Bo Nix's status with Broncos put into question with startling bold prediction by ESPN

Travis Wakeman

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Bo Nix's status with Broncos put into question with startling bold prediction by ESPN image

To be one of the best teams year in and year out in the NFL, it starts with the most important position on the field... quarterback. 

For the teams that are true contenders, there aren't musical chairs at the quarterback position. There aren't quarterback competitions every summer, and there isn't a long line of failed draft picks. The Denver Broncos checked all of those boxes until they found Bo Nix in the first round of the 2024 draft. 

Nix, behind the guidance of head coach Sean Payton, took the Broncos to the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade in his first year on the job. Now, the future seems extremely bright for the team, and Nix is the main reason why. 

That's now how Seth Walder of ESPN sees it. In an article discussing teams' future power rankings, analysts were asked to make a bold prediction for the future. Here was Walder's bold prediction for the Broncos:

"Nix will lose his starting job during the 2027 season, which will be his last as a Bronco. There's optimism around him now, but there's reason to be skeptical in the long term. As a rookie, his rushing led him to be decent efficiency-wise. But he ranked 28th in completion percentage over expectation (minus-2.4%) and 22nd in yards per dropback (6.16) despite playing behind a top-tier offensive line. The roster around him is great now, but it won't always be".

Uh... what? If this were to become the case, one could only assume that things go way downhill for the Broncos between now and then, and Payton ends up being fired. It seems extremely unlikely that Payton would look for a replacement for Nix after just three seasons as the team's starter, especially if things are going well. 

 

Payton is a big believer in what Nix brings to the table and has essentially tied whatever legacy he has in Denver to that potential success. It's also hard to deny the similarities between Nix and Drew Brees. 

Bold predictions are often not very bold. This one certainly is, and we can appreciate that. But they also need to make some level of sense, and this one just doesn't. Nix would have to go so far in the opposite direction from the way his career has started that it would be utterly shocking. 

For fun, some of the quarterbacks who could potentially be available in the 2027 NFL Draft are Arch Manning, LaNorris Sellers, D.J. Lagway and Nico Iamaleava, should they not declare before then. 

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Travis Wakeman

Travis Wakeman has been covering the NFL since 2012 when he started with Bleacher Report. After reporting about the Broncos there until 2016, he joined the FanSided network as a site expert covering the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers while simultaneously covering the Broncos at Broncos Wire when that site launched. He then took over the Broncos site at FanSided in March 2020 and covered the team there until spring of 2024. A lifelong Broncos fan and fan of the game, Travis is filled with sometimes useless NFL knowledge, but it always serves him well in any trivia contest. You can follow him on Twitter/X @traviswakeman10.