The Bo Nix hype train has been steadily chugging along this offseason as Denver Broncos fans have had to combat their own excitement over Nix with the fact that no quarterback ever drafted by this team has worked out.
Even though the hype train has been chugging along at a reasonable pace with Nix receiving positive reviews after OTAs, minicamp, and even early on in training camp, his latest Broncos training camp practice may have sent a terrifying message to the rest of the league. That message? Well, the Broncos might have themselves a franchise quarterback.
Nix had his best training camp practice yet for the Broncos and while it's easy to be hyperbolic during the offseason (because everyone's undefeated), I would say people have been rather fair if not bordering on harsh with their evaluations of Nix so far at practices. Even Sean Payton had to quell his excitement after practice was over...
Bo Nix was slinging it at Denver Broncos Training Camp
Bo nix dime to Josh Reynolds pic.twitter.com/uCcBBdEOPx
— Jake Goetz (@broncosnews303) July 31, 2024
Although the Broncos don't allow the media to take videos during practice, there were a couple of heroes sitting on the hill at camp who captured some footage that is not only fun to see but essential for a fan base starving for hope. You don't want opposing teams to have access to training camp footage because of the fans, but your fan base needs a reason to be excited right now.
And Bo Nix is giving the fan base plenty of reasons to be excited. Not only did Nix hit this throw to Reynolds, but he escaped outside the pocket for another and hit Marvin Mims for a pass after rolling to his right, putting the ball in a perfect spot. Unfortunately, Mims couldn't hang on to the ball as Riley Moss came in and knocked it away at the last second.
Nix had another throw in practice where he found Courtland Sutton deep down the left side of the field, beating zone coverage as well as a safety who was reacting a little late. Nix adjusted another play at the line of scrimmage and hit Greg Dulcich for a nice gain as well.
Nix has also been showing off his wheels at practice lately, not taking off and running for the sake of it but showing his acceleration and athleticism on designed RPO plays.
What's becoming apparent to everyone is that Bo Nix is just the real deal. It was too easy to be underwhelmed by him at Oregon for a couple of reasons that didn't really matter at all. One of the primary reasons people didn't like Nix as a prospect was the fact that he was going to be 24 years old as a rookie. I guess those same issues didn't apply to Joe Burrow, who had way less time on task coming out of college and was 24 in his rookie year with the Bengals.
The other primary reason why people didn't like Nix was a perceived lack of overall skill and talent based on the fact that he threw a lot of quick-hitting passes at Oregon. But Sean Payton noted after the NFL Draft that even when the Broncos eliminated all of the quick passes and screens from his library of throws, he was still top two in every major, meaningful category.
It seems like a lot of people are going to have to eat crow regarding Bo Nix, though it's still extremely early. We won't be so bold as to declare anything unfair to Nix, but he's given Broncos fans plenty of reasons to be excited right now.