Bo Nix And the Underwhelming Debut

The NFL season is underway, and the rookies have made their NFL debuts. Among them were the first-round quarterbacks, with the exception of three players: Vikings passer J.J. McCarthy, who had been placed on IR after requiring surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Drake Maye, meanwhile, watched New England’s starter Jacobi Brissett pull off the upset in Cincinnati, throwing for only 121 yards but taking care of the football. Michael Penix is stuck behind Kirk Cousins in Atlanta, who surely didn’t have a good comeback after recovering from his Achilles injury.

First-overall pick Caleb Williams won his Bears debut despite an abysmal 14/29 for 93 yards. Jayden Daniels shined as a runner but struggled in the passing game for the Commanders.

Bo Nix And the Underwhelming Debut

That leaves Bo Nix, Denver’s QB1 since winning his camp competition over Jarrett Stidham.

His first stat line: 26/42 for 138 yards, with no passing touchdowns and two interceptions. He showed his mobility, adding five runs for 35 yards and a score on the ground.

NFL Network’s Rich Eisen tweeted after the game: “Seattle outlasts Denver but there’s a lot to like about Bo Nix.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Nix had an average depth of target (ADOT) of 6.0, which would’ve ranked him dead last in the 2023 season among QBs with at least 40 attempts. The problem? That was also a concern in his college career. While he lit up the scoreboard in his final season at Oregon, throwing for 45 touchdowns and only three interceptions while completing 77.4% of his passes, his ADOT was 6.8.

Just for comparison, three of the five other first-round quarterbacks had an ADOT of over 10.0, and the remaining two at least 9.2.

ESPN’s Ben Solak countered Eisen: “Bo Nix averaged 3.3 yards per attempt on 42 passes today. That is tied for the 6th-lowest YPA in any game with at least 40 pass attempts since the merger.”

Statistics like that are surely alarming. His two interceptions came both on passes thrown at least ten yards down the field, and a couple of other such throws could’ve easily been turnovers as well.

Throwing an occasional bad pass happens to anyone, but the problem is that he makes those mistakes without actually targeting receivers deep.

The good news for Broncos fans is that Nix played his first game, and just like all rookies, there’s room to grow. He has one of the best offensive minds of this generation in his corner, and Sean Payton will undoubtedly help him feel more comfortable in the NFL.

Payton built a quick-read dink-and-dunk offense for Drew Brees late in his career when he lost his arm and couldn’t throw deep anymore because of shoulder problems. That’s why pundits almost exclusively thought the duo Payton/Nix would be a nice fit.

The head coach put the blame for the dysfunctional offense on the receivers for dropping passes and on the underwhelming rushing attack, adding: “I think part of being a young player is he’s fairly confident—I don’t want to say kid, but, yeah, I felt the whole time, he was into it, competing,” Payon said. “We just got to be better around him and that’s my impressions from just watching it without looking at the tape.”

Nix will face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday and hopes to bounce back from his shaky debut.

Janik Eckardt is a football fan who was drawn to the sport by Adrian Peterson’s excellence. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and has an affinity for Classic rock. His active Twitter page can be found here. His work can be found on PurplePTSD, VikingsTerritory, and DraftHuddle.