Sean Payton may as well have been telling Bo Nix his shoe was untied. When the coach of the Denver Broncos pulled the rookie aside before Wednesday’s practice and told him he would be the team’s starting quarterback in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks, the conversation was brief.
“He walked up and said he was going to tell you guys (in the media) this afternoon,” Nix said, “And, ‘Let’s have a good practice.'”
Nix’s reaction was equally understated.
“He smiled and he got ready to practice. It was good,” Payton said. “We didn’t have any cake and candles or anything.”
There was no drama in the announcement because there was no lingering doubt about a quarterback competition Nix had turned into a coronation over the past two-plus weeks.
The move was widely expected after Nix’s impressive preseason start against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday when he completed 8 of 9 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. That performance capped an impressive offseason for the No. 12 pick, who surged ahead in a competition against veteran Jarrett Stidham and trade acquisition Zach Wilson.
Payton resisted calls to name Nix the starter after a promising preseason debut in Indianapolis on Aug. 11 — Nix completed 15 of 21 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown — but it became clear then the announcement would be merely a formality.
“We’ve gone through our process,” Payton said. “In the very beginning of it all, just speaking with (general manager) George (Paton) and (owner) Greg (Penner), understanding that, a lot of times, these things often take care of themselves, but we’re not in a hurry to arrive at those types of decisions.
“We want to see it. I think it’s important, relative to the team, that we handle it that way.”
Nix has made clear progress since the start of training camp, creating a swelling of optimism among fans and teammates alike about his readiness to guide the Broncos.
“To see him come in and handle what he’s handled so far, it’s been really fun to see him do his thing,” Denver wide receiver Courtland Sutton said of Nix. “I’m excited for him. He’s handling these early couple games of preseason success really well, but he’s not letting it go to his head. He’s taking it in stride.
“‘What else can I get better at?’ ‘What else can we get better at?’ ‘We like this route, we like this, but let’s try and do it like this next time and we might be able to get more yards and take it to another level.’ To have a young guy like that, to be that hungry and not complacent is really encouraging.”
Nix will become the Broncos’ first rookie quarterback to start a Week 1 game since John Elway in 1983 and the first rookie to start any game for Denver since 2019. He will also become the first rookie quarterback to start an opener for Payton during his 17 seasons as a coach.
“It’s great to share with such a great player like John Elway,” Nix said of becoming a season-opening rookie starter for the Broncos. “But I definitely want to go out there and ultimately do whatever I can for the team. It doesn’t matter when your first start is. It doesn’t matter if you have to wait or if you go right now. You just want to get out there and get that first win and ultimately compete at a high level and give your team the best chance you can.”
Nix earned the starting job by demonstrating a poise born of extensive experience.
He started an FBS-record 61 games across five seasons as a college starting quarterback at Auburn and Oregon. Nix became a starting varsity quarterback at Scottsboro High School in Alabama as an eighth grader and later won two state championships at Pinson Valley High School. The common refrain from those who have coached Nix and played alongside the 24-year-old is that it hasn’t felt like they were watching a rookie compete. The rookie has dropped back 34 times in the preseason without being sacked. He hasn’t turned the ball over in a game and has only thrown one interception in training camp during 11-on-11 sessions.
“He has a very unique combination of humility and confidence that goes a long way for his position and certainly as a rookie stepping in here with a lot of pressure on himself,” veteran right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “He’s taken that in stride and there’s no fear of competition and there’s no fear of getting out there and going for it. That certainly has shown in the way that he’s progressed all of camp.”
The Broncos released Russell Wilson in March after just two seasons in Denver, taking on an $85 million dead-money hit across two seasons in the process. Nix, both financially as a starter on a rookie contract and by way of his performance, offers the Broncos a chance to quickly emerge from the failed experiment with Wilson. He will become the Broncos’ seventh Week 1 starter in the past nine seasons, and there is hope he can become the one who finally jams a wrench into a quarterback carousel that has been spinning for the Broncos since Peyton Manning retired in 2016.
The Broncos still have questions at quarterback. Namely, will they keep both Stidham and Zach Wilson, who had arguably his best practice of training camp Wednesday? Payton didn’t provide any clues as to how the rest of the room will shake out with final roster cuts just six days away.
The focus Wednesday was on Nix. His, though, was turned to the afternoon meetings to come. He said he didn’t call or text members of his family to share the news after coming off the practice field.
“I’m sure they already heard it from you guys. We’ll talk about it later, I’m sure, and they’ll be excited,” Nix said. “They’ll all tell me the same thing: ‘You’ve got to go back and work.’ Now the expectations and the standard is even higher, so you’ve got to get back to the main thing and keep that the main thing.”
Payton said Nix’s performance in camp has been “outstanding,” and he was particularly pleased with how he made off-schedule plays and navigated the pocket when pressure arrived. But the coach also provided a reminder that Nix’s pro development has just begun.
“There’s a ton of room for growth,” Payton said. “There’s a lot of things he needs to work on.”
Payton has praised Nix for his ability to process information quickly, so much so, in fact, that the Broncos are trying to get him to slow it down in some instances.
“If there’s one thing we’re working on now, he’s really quick through the process and sometimes maybe a little quick past one in the read because his internal clock is going. There’s been some times where he snaps the ball and we’ve got a shift, and it might to you look like a motion, (but) we’re making a note like, ‘Hey, let this guy get set,’ that kind of thing.”
Nix can drill down on those improvements with the peace of mind that he will be the starter on Sept. 8. The competition is officially over. The Broncos have their quarterback.
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All signs pointed to Nix
Because of the competition (Stidham and Wilson) and his experience (61 college starts), it would have been surprising if Nix wasn’t named the season-opening starter.
So far in the preseason, Nix has looked like the same player we saw at Oregon — a mobile quarterback who shines in the quick game and understands where to go to sustain drives. But the true test of his development will come against NFL regular season defenses that take away the quick options and force him to read things out from the pocket.
One of the main concerns with Nix’s college tape came when his eyes would speed up on him versus pressure, leading to frantic decisions. But Payton is one of the best at understanding his quarterback and simplifying things for him, which gives this marriage a chance to make it past the honeymoon stage. — Dane Brugler, NFL Draft analyst
Required reading
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(Photo: Jamie Schwaberow / Getty Images)