Bo Nix's rank among all quarterbacks in rushing yards heading into Week 8

Through the first seven weeks of the 2024 NFL season, it's become abundantly clear that pretty much everyone underestimated the running abilities of Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix. Nix has been one of the best in the NFL through the first seven games this year when it comes to the ground game, and he's put his rushing ability on display in the last handful of weeks for Denver.

Nix had a handful of big runs in the Broncos' 33-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints, which included 225 total rushing yards from the team in total. It was their best rushing performance of the entire season.

But this is nothing new for Nix, who has been running well pretty much all year. The Broncos have found ways to unlock his rushing abilities through designed quarterback runs, read-option plays, RPOs (run-pass-options), etc. And it's to the point that Nix is currently one of the four best running quarterbacks in the league.

Bo Nix ranks 4th in the NFL in rushing yards among quarterbacks through 7 games

Nix ranks 4th in the NFL among quarterbacks right now in total rushing yards, and the fact that he's a whopping 200 yards behind Lamar Jackson is a sign of how ridiculous of a year Jackson, in particular, is having.

The Broncos have not utilized Nix as heavily in the rushing game as other teams do with their quarterbacks (like Jackson and Daniels) as Nix has just 47 rushing attempts so far this season compared to 73 for Lamar Jackson and 66 for Jayden Daniels.

The ability of Nix to extend plays with his legs has been impressive, but the playmaking ability has been even more so. We have seen some pretty crazy scrambles for first downs from Nix in recent games, including one against the Buccaneers and another against the Chargers. He had a great designed run against the Saints along with a couple of plays in which he took off running after initially dropping back to pass.

People are getting tired of hearing this comparison, no doubt, but the Buffalo Bills unlocked Josh Allen's running abilities back in his rookie season in 2018 to help bring Allen along. Allen had just 10 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions as a rookie with the Bills, but he added 631 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.

We've seen Nix make strides as an overall passer but he's still out there making rookie mistakes. The ability to run the ball this effectively can help keep your offense balanced and give you additional chances to "fail forward" as a passer in certain situations. Nix obviously needs to continue to make strides throwing the ball, but the added element of the running game has been fun to watch and he's obviously very good at it.