ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As Joe Lombardi helps build game plans full of plays he has tinkered with for more than decade, it sometimes escapes him how relatively new those schemes and concepts are to the quarterback he’s working with now.
“I was telling him there’s still plays that we’ve been around for 10, 15 years and that he’s been around just for a few months,” Lombardi, the Denver Broncos’ offensive coordinator, said of rookie Bo Nix. “There’s still a couple completions every game that I think, as he gets more experience, he’s going to find that maybe he’s not finding now.”
Nix has surged into the NFL Rookie of the Year conversation with his performance over the past two months and has helped the Broncos find a new life offensively. The 38-6 victory for Denver over the Atlanta Falcons last week marked the team’s third game this season with at least 33 points scored. That’s already the most in a season for the Broncos since 2014, and there are six games, beginning with Sunday’s road matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders, still left on the schedule. Nix has thrown 13 touchdown passes in his last seven games and will end the season having smashed every meaningful franchise record for rookie quarterbacks.
But as much as Nix’s play has created excitement for what the Broncos can do down the stretch as the team tries to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2015, the team also knows there is much being left on the table offensively. And that’s where the real optimism lies with the rookie quarterback and the relatively young offense he’s directing. It’s rooted in the rapid growth Nix has made since a rocky first month, but even more so in the work ethic and routine behind that ascent.
“The guy shows up to work hungry for more,” said wide receiver Courtland Sutton, whose own statistical surge (28 catches for 370 yards in the last four weeks) has mirrored that of his quarterback. “(Nix is) a student of the game and a guy that you can tell loves the game. There is nothing boring about listening to him talk about ball because he just has so many ideas and has so much joy that comes from him when he’s talking about ball and what he sees each week from the defenses. … This is just the tip of the iceberg for him.”
Sunday’s win against the Falcons presented snapshots of the ways in which Nix is stacking the lessons learned each week and using them to test defenses. One example came on the opening third-down play of the game. As Nix got to the top of his drop, pressure around his feet forced him to climb the pocket. Sutton was running a delayed out route to the sideline, a timing pattern that had to wait on Troy Franklin to clear out safety Justin Simmons with a go route. Nix patiently kept his eyes downfield as he ran up the pocket, buying the time he needed to hit an open Sutton for a first down.
Nix during the play had successfully quieted the alarm bells in his head in a way he wasn’t always doing early in the season. It was a solid execution out of a “dirty pocket,” something Broncos coach Sean Payton identified as a strength of Nix’s during training camp and that has shown up during his surge over the past two months.
“He’s a very mobile quarterback and he’s always looking to get the ball down the field,” Sutton said. “He has the ability to run, but you can tell his last resort is running. He’s trying to get the ball down the field to us. We understand there’s different spots you’ve got to get to and understand where he’s looking. We have to get into those spots and those windows for him. We’re just playing ball.”
Nix has rushed the ball only five combined times the past two games after averaging 6.4 rushing attempts during Denver’s first nine games. His speed as a runner is something defenses are accounting for, but the real stress comes when Nix maintains his options as a passer while scrambling up the pocket.
“It’s just a feel thing,” Nix said. “Sometimes they get out of rush lanes — or they cover everything down the field or they drop far back and you’re able to get through the line of scrimmage and get five, 10, 15 yards — whatever it may be. That’s just good for a drive. When a quarterback can run for first downs or run for eight to 10 yards and get first downs and extend drives, it’s just tough on a defense. When they have to go from play-action to covering deep to running back up and tackling the quarterback, it’s just kind of like an extra extended checkdown. So it’s good for an offense to utilize.”
The improved feel Nix has for how defenses are playing him has been evident in how he’s handled extra pressure from defenses. It’s no secret that defensive coordinators like to blitz rookie quarterbacks. Of the nine teams that have faced the most blitzes on dropbacks this season, three have first-year signal callers, according to TruMedia. That includes the Broncos (ninth at 119). Lately, sending extra rushers at Nix has come at a cost. Since Week 8, he has a passer rating of 133.3 when blitzed (23-of-36 passing for 332 yards, five touchdowns, zero interceptions), which ranks fifth in the league. His rating during the first seven games on those plays was 78.1.
It’s hard to find a passing category where Nix hasn’t seen a similar spike. His completion rate on intermediate throws has skyrocketed. He’s been more accurate outside of the pocket and when facing pressure. He has put the ball in danger less often as the season has progressed. The growth isn’t always going to be linear from here, but the rapid rate of growth coaches and teammates have seen from the quarterback has made it impossible not to envision what’s possible as Nix’s database grows.
“It’s going to keep going up as he gets more experience and more looks at the same concepts, the timing and what equals (a receiver) being open and what equals me being able to make that throw,” Lombardi said. “That just comes from experience and time, so he’s just going to continue to grow in that way.”
(Top photo: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)
