Mile High Report
Bo Nix is the Broncos franchise quarterback and the face of their franchise.
With their 12th overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos selected Oregon quarterback Bo Nix. This was a controversial pick according to some who believed Nix didn’t deserve to go in the first round, was a “reach”, or just simply was not a good quarterback prospect. The noise was loud, but Sean Payton was confident in his evaluation of Nix, and according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Payton felt as strongly about Bo Nix as he did Mahomes.
Despite the outside noise, Nix joined the Broncos during the offseason workouts and quickly impressed. He was picking up the playbook quickly, acting more like a veteran than a rookie, and impressing on the field. He would learn from his mistakes, and the growth was noticeable. That carried over into training camp, where Nix was in a three-way competition for the Broncos' starting quarterback job with veteran Jarrett Stidham and former number two overall pick Zach Wilson. He had his ups and downs in the early parts of camp and the preseason, but quickly proved he was the best quarterback on the roster and was eventually named the starting quarterback for week one.
Things would start slowly for Nix and the Broncos during the season. They would start the year 0-2, and Nix would throw 0 touchdown passes, 4 interceptions, and 1 rushing touchdown during that span. The doubters and naysayers were loud, but that did not stop Nix and the Broncos from turning it around. They would go on to upset the Bucs on the road, beat the Jets in the rain on the road, and then come back to have a signature win over the rival Raiders in their throwback uniforms.
This is when things started to click for Bo Nix. The Broncos' rookie quarterback would go on to have a historic rookie season from that point forward.
He finished the season with 3,775 yards passing, 29 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions, completed 66.3% of his passes, and had a quarterback rating of 93.3. and a QBR of 57.2. He also had 430 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns, and 1 reception for 2 yards and 1 touchdown.
His 29 passing touchdowns rank second all-time for a rookie quarterback and only trail Justin Herbert, who had 31 in his rookie season. That is two more than third-place Baker Mayfield, who had 27, three more than Russell Wilson and Peyton Manning, who had 26, and 4 more than Jayden Daniels, who would go on to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
On the season, only Joe Burrow(43), Baker Mayfield(41), Lamar Jackson(41), Jared Goff(37), and Sam Darnold(35) had more passing touchdowns than Nix, who had 29. When you break it down by conference, Nix had the 3rd most passing touchdowns in the AFC and had more than Josh Allen(28), Patrick Mahomes(26), and Justin Herbert(23), all of whom are considered the top quarterbacks in the league.
Now, Bo...
