Sean Payton: “You just had to watch the games” to evaluate the successes of Bo Nix in 2024

The Denver Broncos seemed to have found their franchise quarterback in 2024 with Bo Nix, who led the orange and blue to the playoffs for the first time since 2015. After taking a few games to get accustomed to the speed and challenges of the National Football League, Nix brought life back to Broncos Country.

Despite being in the top half of quarterbacks around the league in completion percentage and throwing the second most touchdowns by a rookie in NFL history, Nix’s game received some harsh evaluations, often pointing out how many screens and checkdowns the Oregon product threw. Broncos head coach Sean Payton went to bat for his young quarterback when speaking to the media at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday.

“[Quarterback is] a tough position to evaluate,” Payton said. “There’s a difference between entertainment and the club side.”

Nix constantly showed his downfield arm talent throughout the season with big plays to Marvin Mims and the rest of the Broncos receiving core, along with his legs on scrambles to keep drives alive. Nix had four completions that traveled at least 50 yards in the air in 2024, which was a top-five number in the NFL.

Bo Nix’s 43-yd TD pass to Franklin traveled 53.5 yards in the air, Nix’s fourth completion of the season over 50 yards, 4th-most in the NFL.

Only Jayden Daniels (6), C.J. Stroud (5) and Jared Goff (5) have more 50+ air distance completions than Nix. https://t.co/VOZCGhzrIt

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) January 12, 2025

Yes, Nix had some performances where he was reluctant to push the ball down the field like in the Broncos’ Week 15 victory over the Indianapolis Colts (Nix had just 3.9 yards per attempt in that contest), but it’s not the end of the world if a quarterback doesn’t play like 2018 Patrick Mahomes.

Another aspect of Nix’s game that Payton referred to was the rushing aspect. An important third down scramble won’t show up in the box score, hence why Payton emphasized the importance of watching the games to properly evaluate Nix.

“You just have to watch the athleticism, the learning curve…” Payton said.

Nix was eighth in the NFL in rushing yards by a quarterback in 2024 with 430. As he continues to grow and learn the NFL game (almost nobody hits their peak in their rookie season), Nix will get a better feel of how the pocket moves and what the best option is for him to get rid of the football.

The next step for the Broncos organization is to put more pieces around Nix to help him develop and help the team improve upon its Wild Card appearance a season ago. However, helping Nix doesn’t mean getting an offensive player, as Payton is focused on getting the best player for the team in the upcoming NFL Draft. The 25-year-old still has a lot of time to grow, and the future for him and the Denver offense he is at the helm of looks bright.