Broncos looking better than expected, and not just because of Bo Nix

Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

Did the Broncos find a legitimate quarterback option in Bo Nix?

We are officially closer to the end of the preseason than the beginning. Real, actual football is finally almost in our lives on a daily basis.

Technically speaking, we have football going on of various types. The Premiere League returned last week so futbol is all the rage and on Saturday night (I think, based on timezones) Florida State and Georgia Tech will dance in Dublin.

But the NFL is king and has constantly been reminding us that of late with all of the headlines that are storming through the place. What are the biggest and most notable? More importantly, how should you feel about each one?

This is where we come in. Every week we (Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa) gather together for a back-and-forth roundtable of sorts where we sweep the top NFL storylines under our proverbial rug.

This is The Skinny Post. Vamos.

Are we buying that Bo Nix is actually a legitimate answer for the Broncos?

RJ:

One of the cooler things about this past week’s slate of preseason games was that we had Sunday night contests which made things feel very regular season-y.

While the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers drew the FOX broadcast and a bit of a bigger feel, NFL Network was airing the matchup between the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers. This is admittedly where I couldn’t find myself leaving.

If we are honest with ourselves as a collective people then I think we all thought that the Broncos reached in a massive way on Bo Nix. Like I’m talking Inspector Gadget levels of reach.

The process of how they landed him may have been faulty, but I sort of think he is kind of good? Also I cannot believe that I think this, but the Broncos’ new uniforms may not be awful?

Obviously this is nothing worth totally freaking out and the context that Green Bay was resting some players is necessary. But it has been a long time since we saw any Broncos offense have any semblance of life and it seems to have that under Bo Nix.

Cards on the table since it is the time of year where everybody tells you when their fantasy draft is… I took Nix in my dynasty league of record a few months ago. My logic was not that he was the best prospect or anything but that the volume was going to be serious for him sooner than maybe others. Sometimes we can extrapolate actual logic from fantasy logic and I think that is what we could be looking at here. Nix may not be a top-half quarterback for some time, but that he is going to learn on the job and that he already has the offense with a beating pulse is very interesting.

Michael:

Didn’t we bash the Broncos’ uniforms on a much earlier edition of The Skinny Post? Are we really circling around and changing our tune? Maybe. They certainly look better on the field and on television than when the team released the concept pictures and player models, but I’m not buying it. I still think they look like a UTSA or Boise State ripoff and that’s never what you want to feel coming from a professional football team. If your “aura” is not unique to you, I don’t think that’s a positive thing.

Like, from this view, he could be a UFL quarterback walking off the field for all I know.

Anyhoo, back to the Bo Nix discourse.

He’s been good! I also thought he was a reach for the Broncos in the first. He was one of the oldest quarterback prospects to come out of the draft in league history and that’s never a good thing to mortgage the future of the franchise on a quarterback who will be 25 around the time his rookie season comes to an end. However, if his play becomes what the Broncos need to get back into contention on a yearly basis, I think you have to forego the idea that his age is an issue.

When I go back and check out the tape, I see a quarterback who certainly looks like he’s been around the block a time or two. He is calm and collected for a rookie and does exude a comfortability both in the pocket and on the run. The Broncos don’t have the world’s greatest receiver room but Sean Payton knows how to scheme his guys open and get them into the best positions to find success. Plus, if running back Javonte Williams looks back to his normal form, that’ll be a huge weight off Nix’s shoulders in terms of how much he has to carry the team this year.

I think for now, unlike the uniforms, I’m buying the Nix hype as well.

Peyton Manning ranked his top-five quarterbacks in the NFL while at Fanatics Fest. In order: Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen. Completely reasonable or nonsense?

Michael:

I guess we’re really leaning into quarterbacks this week.

Manning is one of the greatest to ever do it. When he talks about the league’s current and best players at the same position he dominated for years and years, you just have to listen. The top five quarterbacks he named are all fantastic. There are likely snubs depending on who you ask, but this is probably the most reasonable five to name entering the 2024.

With the NFL being a “what have you done for me lately?” league, I believe most would probably point at Herbert here and say he doesn’t belong, then argue that either CJ Stroud, Brock Purdy, or maybe even Jordan Love should be among them. The older heads in the audience may also tell you to stop forgetting the Aaron Rodgers is still alive.

However, I’m giving Manning his rightful flowers and I’ll say he’s doing this evaluation thing the right way. He’s putting all these quarterbacks in a vacuum and judging them based on everything that they’ll able to do in their given situations. All of these quarterbacks possess immense physical and/or mental talent and they’ve all shown more success than failure during their careers. They have the numbers. They have the accolades. They also still have most of their future still in front of them.

I believe if you collect the best five in terms of remaining potential, what they’ve accomplished up to this point, and who they’ve done it with, this is your best group. Stroud and Purdy are potentially the next two outside the group, but for now I’m echoing Mr. Manning.

RJ:

I’ve got no issue with Peyton’s list, but I am surprised that Michael did not lean into Justin Herbert’s inclusion.

It really does feel like we are entering a year that will define a lot of the national narrative on Herbert. This is obviously ironic given that the Chargers are expected to run the ball more than ever, so if that ultimately leads to team success surely the detractors will note how he was carried. Round and round we go on these sort of things.

Allow me to also offer that Peyton excluded the likes of Dak Prescott and Jalen Hurts. Given the world I operate in, sometimes the conversation can exist only around them, but that Peyton left them both out is a bit interesting.

Kind of along those lines… is it not at all wild that he didn’t include a single NFC quarterback? The list should be the list regardless of the teams that anybody plays for, but doesn’t that sort of speak to the state of things? Should we not include this in the context of the discussions we have?

I’m not saying the San Francisco 49ers are not an elite team, but can we really feel like they are constantly dominating some top-level competition when they are running the NFC that by this one measurement doesn’t even feature a top-five quarterback? Obviously this argument can be applied to Dak Prescott’s Cowboys, Jalen Hurts’ Eagles or even everybody’s favorite Detroit Lions.

Interesting!

The Sam Darnold Vikings are clearly going to be a moderately good team that loses in heartbreaking fashion in the end and someone will buy into Sam Darnold as a result of it all

RJ:

Last week here at The Skinny Post we talked about the J.J. McCarthy and Sam Darnold situations, and unfortunately the former will miss the entire season due to a fully repaired meniscus that we knew nothing about it when we wrote the article. It is a huge bummer.

That Sam Darnold is now leading the Vikings has inspired and ignited some rather strong opinions on the internet. People believe that Darnold is due to succeed finally what with how he has a proper surrounding cast, blah blah blah. I don’t have a hard take on this subject either way, but I have definitely seen this movie before. I’ve even seen the Vikings version.

Minnesota completely looks like the team that is going to have a successful-ish season, and will probably even punch a playoff ticket due to the lackluster NFC as noted up above. Darnold will play well and a quarterback-needy team next offseason (maybe the New York Giants?) will convince themselves that he finally put it all together and is worth investing heavily into.

We saw it with Ryan Fitzpatrick in that market during his time with the New York Jets. We sort of saw it with Sam Bradford and the Vikings as noted. Joe Flacco’s time with the Cleveland Browns was a miniseries version of the phenomenon and the Vikings of 2024 are next up.

Right?

Michael:

It just wouldn’t be a NFL season without some quarterback shenanigans taking center stage at some point during the season.

Darnold will probably lead the Vikings to a 5-0 stretch at some point in the season where he’s averaging 1.5 passing touchdowns with no picks and some front office with an up-and-coming set of skill position players will see that and think he’d be the perfect guy to play a high-floor level of football that would be enough to keep their jobs safe for the immediate future. You just know it’s coming.

I believe O’Connell is an exceptional offensive coach who knows how to make his quarterback’s job as easy as possible. The team looked good with Josh Dobbs at first before the “pass-tronaut” came crashing back to earth as he did go 2-1 without Justin Jefferson in the lineup.

This is arguably the best set of skill players that Darnold has had during his NFL career. He won’t have TJ Hockenson to begin the year, but you can do a whole lot worse than Jefferson, Addison, and Aaron Jones as a starting point.

I’m excited to see what happens! It would be rad if Darnold popped off and looked like the guy the Jets thought he would turn into way back when they took him No. 2 overall.

What’s a recent food or drink experience that was so incredible you just have to share with the world?

Michael:

So recently I spent a long weekend with the family back in Iowa at my mother’s place. It’s always a good time and one of the things that makes the trip incredibly worth it is the amount of groceries and random things she sends us back with. This time, my mother handed me a couple beers she just had in her fridge for some reason. She’s not a beer drinker so this is already a weird thing to see. One was a Key Lime Pie Sour and the other was called a “Mexi-rita” which was a magarita-inspired sour.

The key lime sour was awesome. But this Mexi-rita? A complete game-changer. There was a stamp on the side that said it was made with “milk sugar” which I came to find out is a simpler thing to call lactose. Well, that lactose was lactose-ing. This sour was full of flavor with a ever-so slight creaminess to it that made the whole experience seem like I was drinking a melted margarita popsicle of some kind. An actual 10/10 experience with no notes. One of the best beers I’ve ever had.

RJ:

I’m going to go ahead and pass on what Michael experienced, but I am happy for him!

Last weekend I decided to try ribs again on my pellet smoker. I’ve been doing a variety of meats for a while now but had never really gotten a rack of ribs to the point where I was proud of or particularly enjoyed them.

Ladies and gentlemen… we did it.

Full disclosure I actually smoked two racks and ate on them for quite some time. They were so delicious that several of the sittings involved just them as the meal. No sides or anything.

I’m ready to rock for football season.