Jarrett Stidham might have gotten the start, but rookie Bo Nix started the scoring for the Denver Broncos.
Nix, the 12th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, made his preseason debut in the Denver’s Sunday’s 34-30 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. He led the Broncos on four scoring drives to highlight a remarkable initial showing.
In five drives, Nix was the quarterback that led the Broncos to two touchdowns and two field goals, with a laser of a 1-yard touchdown to Marvin Mims.
“It was a good day,” Nix said postgame. “I thought we ran the ball efficiently. Made some good plays in the pass game. Converted some third downs. Got points when we needed to; it was a good job going into half with points and coming out with points, felt like that was a good point in the game. Overall, I thought we did a good job, a huge team win.”
Nix completed 15 of 21 passes for 125 yards for his final line. His touchdown has a 102.3 passer rating, complemented by three runs for 17 yards. Meanwhile, Stidham was 4 of 7 for 37 yards, no TDs, an interception and 32.1 rating. In all fairness to the veteran, neither his interception nor the two futile drives were on him.
“All three of them did a good job,” Payton said, including Zach Wilson, who played for most of the second half and concluded 10 of 13 passes for 117 yards.
Nonetheless, the highlights were for Nix and the first-rounder delivered a spectacular performance. His release was quick, his scrambling capacity sensational, and his command of Sean Payton’s offense was on the mark for his first time.
Early in the week, Payton announced that Nix would start for the Broncos in the Week 2 preseason game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, August 18th.
