Bo Nix #10 of the Denver Broncos in action against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on September 29, 2024 i(Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Denver Broncos great Terrell Davis wants to see more out of Bo Nix before he gives his final take on the No. 12 overall pick in the draft.
The rookie quarterback is off to a 2-2 start so far in his young Broncos career. However, he hasn't exactly lit up the stat sheet from a passing standpoint, throwing just one touchdown against four interceptions for a 62.5 passer rating with 4.8 yards per pass attempt. His yards per pass attempt is the lowest of any starting quarterback in the NFL and his passer rating is the second-lowest behind Anthony Richardson.
However, Nix has looked strong running the football – he has 110 rushing yards and two touchdowns – and helped lead a clutch drive during the Broncos' 10-9 victory over the New York Jets before Will Lutz missed a 50-yard field goal in the fourth quarter that could have sealed the game.
"They won two games with him as the quarterback – but he hasn't played great," says Davis in a one-on-one interview with RG on behalf of his partnership with Wells Fargo. "You have some people watching it and saying, 'OK, I know it's in there, but I need to see it. I need to see that top 12 draft pick.' And you don't see it every game. You don't see it consistently. There's a little bit of a concern about it until I see it."
The Broncos have obviously been led by their No. 3 defensive unit, which is allowing just 13.8 points per game. While Davis admits the Nix-led Broncos are off to a better start – he expected 1-3 – than he anticipated, he has yet to see consistency from Nix early on in his career.
"Does he have those abilities? They've won games, but he's only thrown for one touchdown," says Davis. "He's run for two touchdowns and they don't score a lot of points on offense. The defense is doing a great job. We need to see if the quarterback can be part of the reason why they're winning.
"Now he's doing little things, where there's a drive and you see him make really good throws and how he moves the ball. But there's some other quarters where you start scratching your head and seeing that he missed that throw or three-and-outs that become a little problematic. So I'm going to wait and see how this unfolds."
The Broncos are obviously supposed to be in a rebuild after unloading the massive $245 million contract Russell Wilson signed. Because of the salary cap constraints from the dead cap hit of the Wilson release, the Broncos were unable to make any major moves in free agency.
When looking at the offensive unit, there is only one proven receiving option in Courtland Sutton. That could be a possible reason why Nix is struggling and why head coach Sean Payton isn't allowing his rookie quarterback to throw the ball down the field.
Davis acknowledges the lack of talent on offense as a possibility for why Nix doesn't look great, but he says it's never just one thing.
"It's going to take some time, so I'm not going to panic there. Is it the fact that maybe the weapons he has may not be (there)? Maybe that's going to take some time to get him some weapons and the run game has to be consistent. There's a number of things."
And while the Broncos are at a solid standing through four weeks with winnable matchups against AFC West opponents, the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers, in the coming weeks, Davis is hesitant to call this a potential playoff team due to the offensive struggles. The offense is averaging just 15.5 points per game, 28th in the league.
Davis also acknowledges that the Broncos need to start getting over the hump of beating the Raiders – a team they've struggled to beat in recent years. They've lost their past eight meetings against a Raiders team that has missed the playoffs over the past two seasons.
"You have to score points – they're not scoring points right now," says Davis. "Until I see that, it's hard to say they're a playoff team."
DJ Siddiqi
