The Denver Broncos introduced their hopeful franchise quarterback, Bo Nix, to the media following the team’s selection of him on Thursday night at the NFL Draft. Denver’s new quarterback is eager to help the Broncos play at a high level.
Bo Nix eager for opportunity to lead the Broncos
When Bo Nix took the podium on Friday in his introductory press conference, several things stood out. The former Oregon Ducks star QB comes across humble, confident, eager, and has a little bit of fire to him.
#BroncosCountry has their next quarterback.
We met with Bo Nix today. He’s fiery, humble, strong-willed, and confident in his ability to do everything the Broncos want him to do.@MileHighSports pic.twitter.com/mFBB2rL9OP
— Cody Roark (@CodyRoarkNFL) April 26, 2024
Some of Nix’s biggest critics have highlighted that all he does is throw screen passes and short throws, but if you watch the actual tape, you can clearly see he is a true three-level thrower. When asked about the short passes and screens thrown, he fired back a bit at that narrative.
“Quite frankly, I completed a lot of long ones, too,” Nix responded. “I don’t mind when people go back and watch the film. They can see everything they need to watch. That’s here and gone. I’m excited to be here now and do whatever I need to do to win games, and that’s if I’m out there playing, if I’m supporting another quarterback. Whatever it is, [I will] do whatever the coaches ask of me and do it at a high level. I know if you do that, statistically speaking watching other guys in the league, if you do that, you get to play and stick around for a long time. So I’m excited, and I don’t think I have to show anything else because I’m at the perfect spot now. I just can’t wait to get to work with the team.”
As somebody who has watched Nix play at Oregon for two seasons, he’s a high-level processor and gets the ball out quickly. Pre-snap, he’s very good at reading the defense and understanding where his reads will be based on the coverage look.
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky did a great job of also highlighting this on the Pat McAfee Show.
"Bo Nix has grown so much and he's a consistent pocket passing Quarterback..
They gotta get some more talent around him but the fit in Denver makes a lot of sense"@danorlovsky7 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/C9TWiiALNF
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 26, 2024
But what does it mean to be a high-level processor? Nix took us through his thought process on what that looks like from his vantage point as a quarterback.
“So it starts throughout the week with your preparation,” Nix began. “It starts with what you can learn and what you already know and how you can fit them together. It is how you can collaborate with coaches and other players to form a gameplan that best fits you and go out there and essentially execute it. You have to be as efficient as possible. So processing to me means taking something from the sideline, being able to evaluate it, see all of the pros and the cons of the play and understand that whatever happens, you have to react to it. So every play starts with, in the league, it starts with a huddle and starts with a play call. There’s probably a shift, or a motion or a movement. There’s going to be a cadence, there’s going to be probably a primary play and a secondary play. You have to figure out—all of this is just offense—so now you have to look at the defense and see what they’re in. You have to see the front, through the linebackers, through the safeties. Once you see that, you just process everything and you hope your preparation has led you up to the point to where you can find the solution, find the answer quickly.”
With rookie minicamp set to start in two weeks, Nix is focused on getting acclimated with his teammates and helping the team play at a high level and win games.
“My goal for this year is to do whatever I can quite simply do to help this franchise and organization succeed at a high level and win games, Nix said. “All players, I think that’s our job. We show up each and every day to do whatever we can to win games. We have a great opportunity here. It’s an unreal organization. [The] fans are incredible. They put so much effort to watch us succeed. Everyone that is a part of the organization, that’s what our goal is. So for me, I just have to start from somewhere and just grow each and every day to be the best player that I can possibly be for my teammates and for my coaches.”