Bo Nix has been named the Denver Broncos beginning quarterback, as coach Sean Payton has hitched his future to a rookie.
Positive, the competitors within the preseason is watered down, however Nix has related on 23-of-35 passes for 205 yards, two touchdowns and 6 scoring drives in two preseason video games. It’s a efficiency that has given Broncos’ followers a glimmer of hope that the 14 beginning quarterbacks since Peyton Manning retired after Tremendous Bowl 50 haven’t displayed.
Final 12 months, followers who wished quarterback Russell Wilson to make use of his pocket-stretching playmaking expertise to do greater than handle a recreation latched onto the phrase coined in Seattle to “Let Russ Cook dinner.”
That outside-the-box model of play by no means meshed with Payton, and Wilson joined fellow quarterback castoff Justin Fields in Pittsburgh in a contest for the Steelers No. 1 job.
However it stays to be seen if Payton treats Nix, the sixth quarterback taken at No. 12 within the first spherical of the 2024 NFL Draft, like an government chef or a sous chef. The Broncos offense ranked twenty sixth final season.
“We wished to let the choice (to begin Nix) play itself out,” Payton mentioned. “More often than not, once you let that occur, you arrive on the proper choices. We’re happy to see the place Bo is at, however there’s plenty of room for development right here.”
In his 5 years in faculty, Nix began an NCAA document 61 video games, threw for 15,351 yards, 113 touchdowns and compiled a 43-18 win-loss document. His profession began because the prodigal son at Auburn and left as a switch portal darling at Oregon. It’s probably the most in depth taking part in expertise resume of his rookie quarterback brethren, however he doesn’t have the {hardware} of Caleb Williams, the general No. 1 choose and 2022 Heisman Trophy winner. Nor does he have the Nationwide Championship that J.J. McCarthy led Michigan to final season.
As the primary rookie to begin at quarterback for the Broncos since John Elway in 1983, the Broncos hope their perpetually spinning quarterback carousel has lastly come to a profitable cease with Nix.
If Nix blossoms in his rookie season, it could possibly be attributable to a pair of big-bodied playmakers at large receiver. Courtland Sutton is a 6-foot-4 goal who had 10 touchdowns in 2023. Josh Reynolds is 6-foot-3 and was signed as a free agent from the Detroit Lions, the place he had 40 catches for 608 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Each could possibly be safety blankets for a rookie quarterback who will face disguised coverages and NFL velocity and measurement for the primary time. Their presence makes it appear to be Payton desires Nix to make performs together with his arm.
In his 15-year tenure as head coach in New Orleans, Payton led the Saints to a win in Tremendous Bowl XLIV and ran an offense the place future Corridor of Fame quarterback Drew Brees made fast reads in an uptempo offense. So far, Nix seems extra snug and higher suited to fill that function than Wilson.
“An excellent quarterback is the right scheme match, wherever,” Payton mentioned.
With Payton’s tenure headed into 12 months two, the Broncos need to hope for a smoother marriage between head coach and quarterback. The decks have been cleared for Nix when Wilson, with whom Payton butted heads all through final season with tales of a possible benching and eventual benching for the final two video games, was launched as a post-June 1 designation and a dead-cap document hit of $53 million this 12 months and $32 million in 2025.
If Nix isn’t the chief chef Payton envisioned, the coach may finish the season on a extremely popular seat.
