The Denver Broncos have a budding start at QB in Bo Nix, and there is an AFC West team that cannot say the same. Without a high-end QB, no NFL team is going to sustain success in this league, and that is simply how it goes in today's NFL.
Well, the Broncos may have the next high-end QB in the league with Bo Nix, who threw the fifth-most touchdown passes in the NFL in 2024 and was responsible for 35 total touchdowns. When you look at QB rankings, you may see Nix in the 10-20 range, and if you ask me, he is a lot closer to 10.
Denver's rival, the Las Vegas Raiders, made a silly change at QB this offseason, trading a third-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for Geno Smith, a 34-year-old, average-at-best QB...
Bo Nix ranked above Raiders QB Geno Smith
While I am not a fan of Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports ranking Bo Nix 15th in the NFL among QBs, he did rank Geno Smith two slots later at 17:
"Was he shielded from heavy passing workloads early on? Sure. By the end of his rookie year, though, he brought a ton of sizzle as a play-extending captain for Sean Payton's offense.Cody Benjamin
Is he an upgrade in Las Vegas? Undoubtedly. At 34, Smith's still got a zippy arm to stretch the field. Can he also rein himself in to steer Pete Carroll's sudden win-now setup to the playoffs?"
It's funny to me when people claim that Geno Smith is better than Bo Nix - he isn't - not only is Smith 10 years older, but he has gotten worse since his breakout season in 2022 and took quite a while to emerge as a viable starter in the NFL.
But that's really all Smith is - he's a viable starter who could hold the fort down for a couple of seasons. The Raiders still do not have their franchise QB, and that is something the Broncos can't say - Denver found their franchise QB and stopped playing the unsuccessful games of bringing in over-the-hill veteran players like Geno Smith.
Heading into the 2025 NFL Season, the Raiders are still the worst team in the AFC West by far and have the worst QB in the division as well. Denver swept Vegas last year for the first time since the 2014 NFL Season.