The Denver Broncos searched for nearly a full decade to find a suitable replacement for Peyton Manning, who retired following the 2015 season. That journey included veterans, high draft picks and attempts at hitting on a blockbuster trade.
But the likes of Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Drew Lock and Russell Wilson proved they weren't the man for the job. But when the team was able to select Bo Nix in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, hopes were high.
Nix turned those hopes into full-on belief during the 2024 season as he was spectacular for a rookie. Despite a tough ending to the season with a 31-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, the Broncos were back and it was in large part due to finding Nix.
Heading into the 2025 season, Broncos Country feels it has one of the best young quarterbacks in the league. Lyle Graversen of Arrowhead Addict feels differently.
When compiling a power rankings list of the 32 starting quarterbacks in the league, Graversen asks if Patrick Mahomes should still be considered the best quarterback in the game. Not surprisingly, he lists Mahomes at No. 1, which is fine. But what was surprising, and frankly downright ridiculous, was his slotting of Nix in the No. 21 spot.
He breaks the quarterbacks down into tiers and he has Nix sitting in tier 5 with the tagline young promising talent (and Russell Wilson). Nix is behind Caleb Williams, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, but who was easily outshone by Nix.
"Broncos fans will probably be mad that I slotted Williams ahead of Nix, when Nix outplayed him last season, but I have more confidence in Williams taking a big step forward this season and think it will be enough just for Nix to prove that his rookie year wasn't a fluke", wrote Graversen.
Graversen expects the proverbial "sophomore slump" for Nix, which is fine, because there will be many in the media who will say the same thing. But they also must take into account the poise and level of confidence Nix plays with, and that was never more evident than when he took his team on what would have been a game-winning drive at Arrowhead Stadium last season, if not for a blocked field goal on the last play of the game.
Nix showed promise as a rookie and exceeded what most anyone thought he would accomplish, outperforming nearly everyone's expectations. You can call it a fluke if you'd like, but I wouldn't put a lot of money on him suffering a major setback this year.
Nix has a chance to make everyone a believer in year two. And if he can win that game at Arrowhead this season, like everyone knows he should have last year, that will include Chiefs Kingdom.
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