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Jeff Legwold
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos’ 2024 season ended with a thud thanks to a 31-7 playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round in January. But Broncos quarterback Bo Nix wasn’t ready to head into the offseason.
Nix looked at the calendar, dug into the pain and made a decision, one he plans to repeat the rest of his NFL career.
“I decided that it was too early for a season to end,” Nix said. “So, I trained, I worked, like we were still playing, right up until the Super Bowl. … Hopefully we have a lot of years when I’m training and practicing and playing up until the Super Bowl because we’re going.
“I want to know what it feels like to play all the way until the end … and I’ll do it every year so I’m ready when we do go.”
Nix is days away from his second regular-season opener for the Broncos, which takes place Sunday against the Tennessee Titans at Empower Field at Mile High (4:05 p.m. ET, Fox). After throwing for 3,775 yards and 29 touchdowns in a successful rookie campaign, Nix is on the doorstep of what many in the NFL feel is the next most difficult step in a quarterback’s development — Year 2.
Broncos coach Sean Payton might not buy into the so-called sophomore slump — he calls it “a little bit cliché” — but there are three major things Payton and others in the league believe will determine how Nix’s second season goes.
Can Nix take advantage of needed rest?
From the beginning of his senior season at Oregon in September 2023 to the Broncos’ playoff loss 16-plus months later, Nix’s life was a constant whirlwind, leaving little time for big-picture thoughts.
“It was our season [at Oregon] … to the draft, to getting ready for that and be the best I could be, to my first year in the NFL, right from one to the other to the other,” Nix said. “This was my first real NFL offseason, my first chance to kind of determine how I want to handle it.”
Nix believes that the most important lesson he learned was that his training didn’t always have to involve a football. Instead, Nix — who had ankle surgery in the offseason — focused on a combination of things that didn’t include throwing the pigskin. He juggled well-timed rest, isometrics and drills to strengthen and care for his arm, along with traditional conditioning and football work.
“In college you’re in there with 50 other guys, in the NFL it’s me on my own, I can dictate,” Nix said. “Rest is a component, I think and it’s important. … Make sure you give your shoulder a long rest from throwing but keep it strong.
“And make sure … I’m following a schedule and I’m being critical and detailed on it.”
Can Nix get a boost from his teammates and coaches?
When Payton is asked about what Nix must do better, the coach will often move the conversation to how the Broncos can improve around the young quarterback. He cites the importance of pass protection, running the ball and defensive support in helping Nix grow.
It’s why four of the Broncos’ five offensive line starters are among the highest paid at their position. It’s also why Denver reinforced its already stout defense this offseason by signing free agents Dre Greenlaw (LB) and Talanoa Hufanga (S) along with selecting cornerback Jahdae Barron in the first round of April’s draft.
They also used the offseason to bolster two problem spots of the offense, tight end and running back. Denver signed veteran tight end Evan Engram to a two-year contract, drafted UCF running back RJ Harvey in the second round and signed free agent running back J.K. Dobbins in June.
Nix did not have a reasonable receiving option at tight end last season, with Lucas Krull leading all Broncos tight ends with 19 receptions. In comparison, 16 teams had two tight ends with 19 or more receptions last season. Broncos general manager George Paton has called an impactful tight end “a mismatch guy” in what is now “a space-and-cover league on defense.”
Dobbins and Harvey are meant to boost the effectiveness of a rushing attack that finished 21st in yards per carry (4.1) despite the Broncos’ offensive line leading the league in run block win rate.
Payton also has a role in Nix’s growth, saying that it will be the quality of playcalls for Nix, not the size of the playbook, that will further aid the quarterback’s development.
“Let’s get to the things that we, as a group offensively, do well, the things that [Nix] really feels comfortable with,” Payton said. “Each team has a different defensive structure, but I think the mistake would be this large jump in volume.”
How prepared is Nix for opponent adjustments?
Over the past eight weeks, a dozen personnel executives and coaches were asked, “What will the biggest on-field challenges be for Nix in Year 2?”
Their answers revealed the types of looks Nix will face from defenses this season. The two most frequent responses referred to how Nix will adjust to defenses gameplanning more against his athleticism and how effectively he can make throws outside the numbers, especially in the short and intermediate areas of the field.
“I can’t ever be just comfortable in how I do things,” Nix said. “I want to always look and see what I can do better. They had more time [to study] and we had more time, too.”
Nix’s running ability took the league by surprise in 2024, even his own coaches. Payton has consistently said he was startled by his quarterback’s speed and elusiveness both inside and outside the pocket. Nix not only ran for 430 yards and four touchdowns last season, but he was sacked only 24 times, with none of those sacks occurring inside the Broncos’ 20-yard line.
If Nix’s mobility shocked his own coaches, it stands to reason that it threw off opposing coaches, too. But don’t expect a repeat in 2025.
“I know in our case we will probably classify him differently going forward as a mover,” an opposing defensive coach said. “I think he’ll see people rush him with more intent on making him stay put.”
Nix must also become more effective on longer passes. While Nix completed 66.3% of his passes last season, his completion percentage dropped to 44.9% on throws of 20 or more yards.
The Broncos are hoping the addition of Engram, and more of an outside zone look in the run game, will give more options beyond throws between the hashes in the short and intermediate areas, which opposing defensive coordinators will try to make more difficult.
“Sean [Payton] certainly knows what people are going to do against [Nix],” an NFC general manager said. “But any young quarterback always has to be ready for the throws they like the best to be much harder to get to.”
Nix said he feels he has done the work to be prepared for what’s to come and that he is fully committed to “a career of adjustments.”
“I think when you do this you know it’s all going to be how you adapt over time,” Nix said. “If I sit here and say I’m finished with how I’m going to be as a player, I won’t be a good player. I want to be good, one of the best.”