The transition from college to the pros is difficult for almost every rookie quarterback (don't tell that to Jayden Daniels), so most Denver Broncos fans will shrug off concerns and the early-season struggles for Bo Nix.
Nix looked pretty bad in his first two games as an NFL starter, but many Broncos fans will quickly remind you that John Elway did too. Even in the team's wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets the last two weeks, he hasn't look terrific.
The Broncos won a sloppy game over the Jets in which the field was drenched in rain and neither quarterback, Aaron Rodgers being the other, played well. But NFL analysts out there are still critical of Nix, and the fact that he is only a rookie doesn't factor in much to what they have to say.
In his weekly QB power rankings, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports has Nix all the way at the bottom... number 32 out of 32 starting quarterbacks. That's behind even Tyler Huntley, who looked atrocious in his first start for the Miami Dolphins last week. In his summary, Benjamin had this to say:
'He's 2-2 to start his rookie campaign, but that's mostly in spite of a wildly erratic passing performance. His mobility has come in handy in avoiding sacks for consecutive games, though."
Over at The 33rd Team, Ian Valentine decided to grade each first-round pick's performance through the first month of the season.
While fellow rookie quarterbacks Caleb Williams earned a C+ and Daniels was given an A+, Nix is one of the worst-ranked rookies in the class according to Valentine, as his grade was a D-.
"The good news for the early results on Bo Nix is that most rookie quarterbacks are bad, and it's not as if he was dropped into a situation with a terrific surrounding cast on offense.
The bad news is that Nix has played into his worst tendencies early on, including being a check-down Charlie and getting happy feet, which leads to erratic accuracy. He's not quite Bryce Young bad, but we need to see improvement soon."
The Broncos are winning games due to an outstanding defense, but how long can that keep up? Eventually, Nix is going to have to come up big and make some plays. Both Benjamin and Valentine were highly critical of the rookie passer, but the team believes in his ability to grow into his role as the leader of the team and become the reason why the Broncos win games, rather than just being a guy along for the side.
Bo Nix and the Broncos have taken the fewest sacks in the NFL this season.
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) October 5, 2024
That's an impressive stat for the rookie QB.
Nix threw the first touchdown pass of his career in the win over the Jets and this throw was likely the difference between a win and a loss. It's easy to pile on him for poor play, but looking at the full picture, he was dropped onto a team that hasn't made the playoffs in nearly a decade. It's a team still learning how to win, so baby steps are going to be required.
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