For years, every time the Denver Broncos have been on national television, be it ESPN, NBC, or otherwise, Broncos Country has had to put up with the worst graphic in team history: The dreaded QB carousel graphic. You know it well -- the one that shows all the quarterbacks that have played for the Broncos since Peyton Manning retired. The graphic is always a who’s who of quarterback mediocrity.
Such world beaters as Mark Sanchez, Paxton Lynch, Brock Osweiler, Teddy Bridgewater, and culminating in Subway salesman Russell Wilson. The Denver Broncos have been riddled with trouble at the most important position in sports and maybe, just maybe, head coach Sean Payton might have found the carousel destroyer in Bo Nix.
Nix was selected with the 12th pick in the 2024 NFL draft and much to the chagrin of draft "experts" and other fun outlets, is poised to become the franchise quarterback of the storied Broncos. Nix spent several years in college, as he has the most number of starts of any college QB in history thanks to COVID rules giving him an extra year. He started his college career playing for his father’s alma mater in Auburn for three seasons before transferring to Oregon to play with Dan Lanning and the “Wins Not Clicks” Ducks.
While people (Cough, PFF, cough) might think of Nix as a check-down merchant with Oregon, Coach Payton clearly did not. He even stated in an interview on draft night with Pat McAfee that even when you take out the short throws, Nix was still the most accurate QB in the draft, a trait that Payton clearly values when you take into account the magic he was able to create with Drew Brees. Nix has come in this offseason and has passed every test given to him with flying colors. While he had a rocky start to camp, as many reports were saying that Jarrett Stidham started off being the better quarterback, Nix has run away with the competition in recent weeks, especially throughout the preseason.
In said preseason, Nix went 23/30 passing with 205 yards, 2 touchdowns, 29 rushing yards, and most importantly, has scored on every possession save for one due to a Lucas Krull fumble. Even when you look past the stats and just look at the tape, you just get the vibes of a potential great quarterback (yes I, a 30 year old man just said vibes).
This just wasn’t the case with other past Broncos quarterbacks. With Nix, you just have that feeling that we might be seeing something special brewing. Now obviously let’s not jump the gun and start saying he might be able to compete with the State Farm salesman in Kansas City, but it isn’t out of the question to think that Nix might be the better Oregon QB in the AFC West in just a few years time.
Nix faces a tough challenge as he returns to the Pacific Northwest to face the Seattle Seahawks as Sean Payton is wasting no time breaking in the rookie QB to the rigors of the NFL. Time will tell, but as it stands now Broncos Country, get ready to get rid of that carousel graphic once and for all!