Peyton Manning weighs in on Bo Nix’s rookie year: ‘Sky’s the limit’

ORLANDO, Fla. — Peyton Manning made a point of noting the value of on-field experience last spring when asked about the development of Bo Nix and what advice he would give the Denver Broncos’ young quarterback.

“I think experience is still your best teacher,” he said last May. “… Being out there on the field, you just learn more things than you do sitting on the sideline.”

And the experience collected by Nix last season was of a scope that few rookie quarterbacks experience. He started all 17 games, endured a rough beginning, played through a back injury that coincided with a slump in late November and early December, led what should have been a game-winning drive in arguably the NFL’s most hostile road environment, had a stat line for the ages, and, finally, started in a playoff game.

“Bo played great,” Manning said.

It was an experience that allowed Nix to grow not only as a passer, but as a leader. He demonstrated the same sort of resilience that allowed him to bounce back from rough moments during a college career that wound from Auburn to Oregon.

 

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The fact that the experience resulted in a season that was by every reasonable measure a success for both quarterback and team was due in part to something that Nix had … and No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams did not in his rookie season with the Chicago Bears: continuity.

“He and Sean, Sean being the play caller,” Manning said. “Good continuity. Same system all year. Some of these rookie quarterbacks had two different play-callers in the first year.

“So, Bo benefited from a good system with Sean and good rapport with his receivers and played at a real high level.”

PEYTON MANNING ON HAND AT PRO BOWL GAMES, BUT BO NIX ISN’T

For all that Nix experienced, one of the few things he didn’t was a trip to the Pro Bowl Games, of which Manning takes part as the AFC’s coach for the all-star event.

Nix could have after the dominoes of alternates tumbled to give him an opportunity, but with upcoming surgery, he declined.

“Had a chance to be down here. I wish he could have come down here,” Manning said.

“I think it would have benefited him to be around pros like Joe Burrow.”

So, that will have to wait. Nix declined, leaving Russell Wilson to take one of the two spots created when Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen opted out — and Patrick Mahomes, as an alternate, couldn’t take part because he’s playing in the Super Bowl once again.

But if you’re going to pick one item of experience without which you can live as a first-year quarterback, it’s the Pro Bowl. Nix accumulated plenty of other lines on his CV, crossed off myriad firsts and altered the trajectory of a franchise that had seven-straight losing seasons coming into the year.

“Great first year,” Manning said, “and sky’s the limit, I think, for him.”