The franchise has what it needs at head coach (Sean Payton), defensive coordinator (Vance Joseph), defense (a perennially top 10 scoring defense with nearly half its players either Pro Bowlers or All Pros) and at kicker (Wil Lutz). Yet, the Broncos' Super Bowl contention window could slam shut in the next year or two because of their quarterback. Nix, the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, will be eligible to sign a multi-year extension beginning in the 2027 offseason.
But general manager George Paton ought to think very carefully before fully committing to him as the team's face-of-the-franchise passer. This season, Denver has the 24th-ranked scoring offense (20.6 points per game), 30th-ranked total offense (270.0 total yards per game) and ranks 26th in yards per play (4.7). The Broncos' 270.0 total yards per game and 4.7 yards per play metrics are both the fewest in the first seven games of a season in Sean Payton's NFL head-coaching career.
How could they be so inefficient offensively after upgrading their receiving corps with a trade for Jaylen Waddle this offseason? Look no further than Nix. Nix had his best game of the season (222 yards passing and a touchdown on 15-of-19 passing, with 74 yards rushing and a touchdown on seven carries) in the Broncos' 30-16 road win at the hapless Arizona Cardinals (2-5) in Week 7.
Nix registered the longest rushing touchdown by a quarterback in Broncos history on Sunday from 62 yards out, with the Cardinals' defense parting like the Red Sea on Nix's scramble. He went up the middle of the field unencumbered. However, that didn't change the fact that Nix hasn't been challenging defenses downfield as a passer all season.
He is averaging an NFL-worst 5.7 air yards per pass attempt, the shortest average pass length by any quarterback through the first seven games of a season since Drew Brees in 2020. That was the Hall of Famer's final NFL season before his right shoulder fully gave out. You read that correctly: The 26-year-old Nix is just as scary as a downfield passer as a 41-year-old quarterback in his 20th NFL season with a degenerative condition in his throwing shoulder.
That's a pretty spooky statistic for the Broncos, but even scarier ahead of Halloween this weekend is Nix's clear regression in essentially every key efficiency metric. Here are the statistics that currently sit at a career-worst for Nix in his third NFL season: Perhaps even more alarming is that Nix feels he is still playing at a steady, capable level of football in 2026. "Playing good, playing bad ... it's a narrative," Nix told reporters prior to Week 6.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
