Bo Nix can easily surpass the rookie season of Broncos legend John Elway

Believe it or not, there is about to be only the second rookie quarterback to start a week one game for the Denver Broncos, and that guy is Bo Nix. 

The Broncos' undefeated preseason ended with a win over the Arizona Cardinals, and Nix was announced as the week one starter for when the Broncos take on the Seahawks on September 8th (which was not a shocker). With this, Nix is already taking his place in the Broncos' history books as the second Broncos rookie quarterback to start a week one game outside of the legendary John Elway. 

What’s another way Nix can etch himself in the Broncos record books? Having a better statistical season than Elway did back in 1983, which, fun fact, shouldn’t be hard. No offense to Elway, but it was a different time when he started, and he didn’t start or even play in all 16 games that year. 

Elway’s rookie season with the Broncos in 1983 didn’t go well statistically for the Stanford alum. Granted, Elway was known for more of a gunslinging mentality, leading to quite a few picks in his career. In his rookie season, he threw for 1,663 yards with 7 touchdowns and 14 interceptions with 146 yards on the ground and a touchdown; he didn’t exactly light the league on fire, but the Broncos did finish with a respectable 9-7 record and a trip to the playoffs. 

Looking at it, Nix finished his preseason with high praise from Pro Football Focus after steady play. Historically, Nix doesn’t turn the ball over, and he continued that trend in the preseason with zero turnovers. During his entire college career, spanning from Auburn to Oregon, he threw just 26 interceptions to 113 touchdowns with a career rating of 149.6. 

Nix started 61 games in college, averaging roughly 1.85 touchdowns per game. If you take that over 17 games in the NFL, you get about 31 touchdowns. Nix also threw for 15,351 yards in college or about 251 per game. That equates to about 4,278 yards in an NFL season. I know the NFL is stiffer competition, but even if you halve those averages, he would still surpass Elway’s rookie season numbers. 

As long as Nix stays healthy, he will play 17 games instead of Elway, who only played 11 games in his rookie year. He should be able to break that record, but that is beside the point. After all these years of quarterback incompetency, Broncos Country finally has something to be excited about in the quarterback room. 

It’s clear that it’s not very common for a rookie quarterback to start week one for the Denver Broncos, and it’s something that Nix has earned, as Sean Payton wouldn’t take this decision lightly on who to name the starting quarterback after paying Russell Wilson to play somewhere else.

All we can do now is sit back and enjoy the regular season as the Broncos will trot out the 14th different starting quarterback since Peyton Manning rode off into the sunset. I believe Nix won’t have difficulty throwing himself further into the record books, and I think he will be around for a long time. 

In Nix, we trust.