Is Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix overrated?
Broncos Country loves their quarterback, but those who aren’t fans of the team are more lukewarm on the gunslinger.
Where should Nix be rated for this coming 2026 season?
CBS calls Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix overrated
Nix is currently entering Year 3 of his professional career.
That’s when we’re going to see the pressure ramp up. Partially because people are expecting him to be a franchise quarterback this season, and partially because he has all the pieces around him needed to compete at the highest level.
And while some in Broncos Country think Nix is near the Top-10 already, many nationally believe he’s closer to 20th-best right now.
However, CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell calls Nix among the most overrated quarterbacks in the NFL today.
“Bo Nix is an incredibly unique quarterback,” Podell said. “He led the NFL with 612 passing attempts in 2025, but he failed to crack 4,000 yards passing, thanks to an average of 6.4 yards per attempt that ranked 28th among 33 qualified quarterbacks.
The young quarterback’s lumps directly led to Denver struggling to consistently drive the football down the field. Three of the top four teams with the most punts in the 2025 regular season — the Browns (93), Titans (78) and Raiders (74) — missed the playoffs and fired their respective head coaches. The fourth team in that group is Nix’s Broncos, with 75 punts. He benefits from a strong offensive line and a strong defense.
Add in the ankle injury, and it will be interesting to see what happens next in his career.”
Podell isn’t wrong about both the yards per attempt stat—which has been among the worst in the NFL both of Nix’s first two seasons (29th in 2024)—and the punts. Nix needs to be a more consistent passer overall, and that includes consistently converting first downs to manufacture drives.
As for his ankle injury, Nix has already shown he’s back and ready to go for 2026. That should have little to no impact on what happens next in his career.
Where the Broncos quarterback has to improve is the six inches between his ears. He needs to continue to work on processing and finding open receivers in the middle of the field, as well as reading defenses at the line of scrimmage to be able to exploit them.
Where should Bo Nix be ranked?
There are 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
Where should Nix be ranked among them?
I put him at No. 18 overall. And last year before the season I ranked him at No. 13 and that was a bit too high.
However, while Nix is currently 18th, behind guys like Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold and ahead of C.J. Stroud and Daniel Jones, he could improve to 13th this year.
That would be a major leap forward, but he has few excuses not to jump up the list.
The Broncos added Jaylen Waddle, which gives them a much scarier receiving corps than last year. They also have the No. 1 offensive line in the NFL, and the running backs room has improved, too.
The difference is the Broncos aren’t going to surprise any teams this year. They’ll have a giant target on their backs and the offense can no longer just be dragged along by the elite defense.