Let the Bo Loose

(Imaga via Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY Sports)

By: Lucas Kochevar

There’s no doubt the Broncos overachieved last season with a 10-7 record and a rookie QB at the helm. The Broncos squeaked into the playoffs over the likes of Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa. The Broncos played a more consistent brand of football compared to those two teams and it netted them some much needed playoff experience. Getting throttled by the Bills in the playoffs is a tough pill to swallow, but they’ll always have that 7-0 lead in the first quarter. 

What’s going to happen now?

Bo Nix was a pleasant surprise to everyone, except Sean Payton. The production Nix showed is what Payton and Broncos fell in love with enough to take him the first round, even when many had him slotted in the second. Nix was everything you could hope for with 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Being able to hold on to the ball as a rookie is something most struggle with, but Nix broke that norm. Still, was he too careful?

Bo Nix averaged 6.7 yards per attempt, which ranked 29th out of 36 qualified quarterbacks. In comparison to Drew Brees’ last year, he averaged 7.5 yards per attempt. Brees’ arm was toast at that point. Seeing that number compared to Nix’s is notable because of Sean Payton being the common denominator play caller.

Nix did enough to win games for the Broncos, but there should be a point where you aim for more than making the seventh seed. The yards per attempt number tells a small part of the story where he simply isn’t making numerous reads. This is where it gets into an interesting conversation of how a system can elevate a mid-level player to being pretty good or how a player could be capped by a reliance on two options: playing it safe or going for the big play. 

The encouraging news is that Nix’s best performances came in the second half of the season, outside of an outlier game against the Colts. Nix’s leash was clear in his rookie campaign, but with that season under his belt, he could get better than what he showed in 2024. It’ll be interesting to see if he regresses or grows into one of the better QBs of the next generation.