In this post we are just going to be honest when it comes to the recent history of the Denver Broncos. The standard that Pat Bowlen set the day he purchased the Broncos is gone, and it left when Payton Manning retired. Being born in Denver basically makes you a Bronco fan at birth. I am an 80s baby, so I got to watch the Elway era, and some of the best memories of my life are walking into the original Mile High Stadium with my dad who would take me to games there. There was a standard of excellence here, and up until we had some losing seasons after Super Bowl 50 the Broncos had been to more Super Bowls than they had losing seasons.
A large part of the problem for a few years was the Bowlen family was fighting about keeping the team, or selling the team. They ended up selling it to the Walton-Penner group, and immediately there was a change in culture in the front office, but they didn't have a coach that could change the culture here on the field. To put it as honestly as possible, we were flat out a soft team. Nathaniel Hackett, who was supposed to be an offensive genius, is only a genius when he had Aaron Rodgers running the offense. The team was just as soft under Vic Fangio, and Vance Joseph. Enter Sean Payton, who is from the Bill Parcells coaching tree, and is exactly what the Broncos need. A guy who is about discipline, teaching, and demanding the best out of his players everyday, at every practice. When you listen to the reports of camp this year you hear about the heated competition for every rep. Players trash talking with each other, little pushing and shoving matches, and stuff like that where you can tell the intensity is really turned up, but they respect each other, so it never goes too far. Thanks to Sean Payton for changing the culture back to what we as Bronco are used to. Coach Payton has to have the right players for his system on offense which is essentially based on timing. What this means is that Payton's offense gets people open, but your QB has to know when, and where to throw the ball for each route. He has to deliver the ball to the receiver accurately, and on time (meaning during the window of time when the receiver comes open). That is not how Russel Wilson has ever played the game, so the writing was pretty much on the wall when Sean Payton was hired.
"With the 12th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos select: Bo Nix, QB, from Oregon". It was pretty clear after the draft Sean Payton got "his guy" with Bo Nix. There might have been even a little gamesmanship from the Broncos to help build up JJ McCarthy so that the Vikings would take McCarthy leaving Nix for the Broncos to draft. So what were some of the things the Broncos liked about Bo Nix going into the draft that led them to taking him at 12? Personally I think they actually like that he is an older QB at 24 than other QBs being taken. Nix has played in a LOT of college football games, so he has more experience than other QBs who were taken. Nix played in the SEC, and then transferred to the University of Oregon in the Pac-12 where he was going to have to throw the ball a lot more. What really stands out with Bo is his accuracy, and decision making. During his first year at Oregon Nix threw for 3600 yards, had a 71% completion percentage, and threw 29 TDs to 7 INTs. Bo Nix 2023 season was absolutely incredible. Bo threw for 4508 yards, had 77.4% completion percentage, threw 45 TDs, and only threw 3 interceptions! Going back to how Sean Payton runs his offense he needs a QB who is accurate, can read a defense, and that doesn't throw interceptions. Bo Nix looks more comfortable with this offense than Russel Wilson was at any point last year!
This season feels like a corner has finally been turned. The ownership is in place, the GM and head coach seem to have a good relationship, and I think we finally have a QB that is going to turn out to be the real deal. The team is taking camp far more serious than pervious years, and players are competing for the few open positions on the team. It feels like there are far less questions going into this season than there has been in a long time. There are still questions regarding this team, but to have the big questions of team ownership, who the GM is, who the HC is, and who is QB answered things just feel different going into this season.
