There he was on draft day, a Heisman finalist, a 61-game starter, polished in a face-of-the-franchise mode NFL owners flock to, and yet Bo Nix was the cross-stitch ostrich at the white elephant Christmas party.
Interesting enough to draw a glance, captivating in his own way to study closely and perhaps even ideal in the right surroundings.
When pre-draft assessments from analysts trained and not placed Nix in the second- or third-round range, Broncos general manager George Paton knew Denver would have at least one chance to pick the Oregon quarterback not many pundits put on a career path higher than that of Andy Dalton, Ryan Tannehill, or, gasp, Jake Locker.
Denver admits it was shopping with a budget in mind, affordability defined partially by a failed bid to fill their QB spot with Russell Wilson. He’ll siphon more than $80 million from the Broncos’ cap over the next two years combined. And so when the NFL think tanks argued a week before the draft that Paton and Sean Payton would move the Rockies to acquire Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy, they popped on their shades and grinned.
As QB prospectors do, Payton admired multiple players in the 2024 draft, and nobody suggests he wouldn’t have leaned his head sideways like a golden retriever offered prime rib instead of Purina if the Broncos lucked into Caleb Williams or Jayden Daniels.
But after extensive review of 20-plus college games and more film study with Paton, the Broncos sent a contingent to Nix’s pro day. They got there early, sat in the front of the class, and watched every throw to reconcile what had been stored in finite detail in a scouting report. Three more hours with Nix after the pro day told Payton he was looking at the 13th starting quarterback for the Broncos since Peyton Manning retired.
“This is the guy,” Paton recalled Payton saying at the time.
And nothing changed when Nix snapped on the helmet at minicamp. There were days he looked like a rookie. But they were almost always followed with nights looking at film of practice and poring over the playbook to find answers, solutions. He shares Payton’s process-driven growth and shuns the quick-fix-Nix bandaids available when, as things will for rookies, games go sideways.
Paton was aware there were teams who felt Nix being 24 years old as a rookie was a detriment in that his peak was nearer and time to grow and develop could potentially be shorter. Denver flipped the lens and felt age and experience would be a major boon for the Broncos.
The first Broncos rookie quarterback to be named captain since John Elway has thrived as the right hand to an underrated defense on a Denver team currently situated in the AFC playoff picture. Consistency has endeared him to teammates and coaches. Opponents who once felt he might be only a stopgap while the Broncos balance their checkbook post-Wilson are taking another look.
Payton said the most impressive things to him about the rookie are his ever-present calm and how intensely focused he is about avoiding turnovers. Nix has three consecutive games with 200 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, which is tied for the longest rookie streak since 1970. But like his multiple rookie of the month honors, Nix is taking all of the accolades in stride and shooting for bigger targets ahead, like checking off his first primetime game.
“These are awesome, and why you play this sport. This is why you play the game and what you dream about for the NFL,” Nix said of playing the Browns on Monday night. “Every week, you feel like you’re playing one of the top guys. It’s just how good the league is and how supreme the talent is. All we can do is worry about ourselves. We just need to focus and execute. We can’t let guys like that beat us and have a career game. We just need to focus on the little things, execute the play, the details and go back to the basics.”
Nix’s last time out, he helped Denver sweep the Raiders, and a game before that, he completed 28-of-33 passes for 307 yards with four touchdowns. Last week he enjoyed the bye by sending Payton constant messages about what he’d like to see in the game plan. With only one interception in his last five games, Nix’s voice is no longer that of a rookie.
The ostrich days in Denver are over.
