Saying Broncos quarterback Bo Nix has stumbled out of the gates to begin his third season would be an understatement.
He has completed only 97 of 162 attempts (59.9% completion percentage) and has thrown 6 touchdowns and three interceptions. His 942 passing yards rank 21st among all signal-callers.
Recency bias has led some to disregard what he’s put on tape over the past two years. There is a growing consensus that Nix might not stick around in Denver for the long haul.
NFL analyst Colin Cowherd, formerly an avid believer in Nix, is on the front lines of that battle. He recently compared Nix to an infamous draft bust that was selected before Patrick Mahomes.
“It’s [Bo Nix’s passing stats] starting to remind me of Mitch Trubisky, who also made the playoffs a couple of times and then the Bears moved off him,” Cowherd said. “Trubisky was overdrafted, and most people I talked to did not like him. Bo Nix, most people felt overdrafted, but Sean Payton wanted to win and didn’t have the draft capital to move up and get a Drake Maye or Caleb Williams. A lot of people saw him as a second-round guy.”
He also added, “The more the NFL sees of him, despite getting better weapons, despite unbelievable continuity, it’s regressing slightly instead of improving slightly. I think his confidence is lost to some degree. I think the ceiling’s been reached.”
Mitch Trubisky Was One Of The Biggest Busts Of The Previous Decade
There is no way around it; Cowherd’s take is egregious. The Bears selected Trubisky with the second overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes eight picks later. Deshaun Watson came off the board two spots after that.
Trubisky showed a lot of promise in his sophomore campaign, throwing for 3,223 yards with 24 passing TDs and 12 interceptions. He added 421 yards and three scores on the ground. He made a Pro Bowl for his efforts.
Unfortunately, he regressed badly from there. He only spent two more years in Chicago before settling in as a backup in Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Sure, Nix has struggled over the first five games this season, but I don’t see any scenario where he’d be a backup by 2028. That feels far-fetched.
Nix might never be a blue-chip signal-caller, but he’s established himself as a starter over his first two seasons. Five rough performances shouldn’t change that fact.
Bo Nix Recently Downplayed Concerns Surrounding His Play
Nix weighed in on the offensive struggles (and his personal struggles) when speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
“Playing good, playing bad, it’s all a narrative. It’s honestly kind of something we make up,” Nix said. “I don’t think I’m playing any different than [the way] I’m normally playing. It’s just every once in a while a ball bounces this way, or something will happen this way, and we’ll get a pressure on this look when we had someone open, and I had to throw it away.. and the next thing you know the stat line looks different, and we’re talking about something completely different.”
That might not be music to his haters’ ears. Neither were his follow-up remarks. “I’m confident in my preparation,” Nix added. “I’m confident in my coaching. I’m confident in the way we’re going to structure the game to call plays. I know it’s going to be there.”
With that said, Nix was never going to change public perception during his media availability. He will have to do that on the field. Clearly, he thinks they will do that (and it’d be silly to expect him to say anything different on the matter).
Broncos’ Bo Nix Draws Wild Comparison To Infamous Draft Bust