Senior Bowl matchmaker: Bo Nix to Broncos? Laiatu Latu to Bears? Pairing top NFL Draft prospects with teams

As the week of Senior Bowl practices march on in Mobile, Alabama — before Mardi Gras 2024 in the city that started the celebration in America — it’s time to pair the top prospects at the all-star event with NFL teams in the first round of this year’s draft. 

While it’s impossible to know what the pro clubs want, identifying specific size and skill-set trends — or clear-cut needs — can provide an idea as to what could happen with these five top prospects at this year’s Senior Bowl. 

Oregon QB Bo Nix

Perfect NFL fit: Denver Broncos

What type of quarterback does Sean Payton really want? Clearly the improvisation-based, hold-the-football-forever type — yes, I’m looking at you, Russell Wilson — is not it. In hindsight, we should’ve all realized a Payton-Wilson pairing was really an odd couple, given Payton’s smashing success for more than a decade with Drew Brees, the exact opposite style of passer than Wilson. 

Payton wants a play-within-the-system, get-it-out-quickly pocket passer, and sure, some athleticism to extend plays wouldn’t be the worst addition to the skill set. Acquaint yourselves with Nix, Broncos fans. 

Now, of course I don’t know Denver’s draft intentions. But Nix fits the latter description to a T. And Payton can watch his entire collegiate career to witness the maturation Nix made from a Wilson-esque quarterback at Auburn to a methodical, calculated pocket passer always looking to throw the ball in a hurry based on where the defense dictated. After barely getting to 60% completion in his final season at Auburn, Nix completed 71.4% of this passes with the Ducks in 2022 and that rate jumped to 77.4% in 2023. 

And given his athleticism and the magnitude…