Bo Nix is exactly what Sean Payton wants in a quarterback

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Bo Nix is doing something that few rookie quarterbacks have done for a such a lengthy span as he has the last eight games … and that’s where this week’s pregame numbers begin:

3

The number of rookie quarterbacks since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger who have had a sack rate of one every 20 pass plays and an interception rate better than one every 100 pass plays for eight-game spans with at least 120 attempts.

In the last eight weeks, Bo Nix joined Dak Prescott of Dallas in 2016 and C.J. Stroud from Houston last season as the only quarterbacks to have those rates for what was a half-season stretch — at least as defined by season length for most of the last half-century.

Nix threw just two interceptions in his last eight games. Among 239 eight-game stretches in which a rookie threw at least 250 passes, Nix’s 2 INTs are tied for the second-fewest, trailing only Stroud — who had 1 interception in his first 8 regular-season games last year. Nix is tied with Gardner Minshew (Jacksonville 2019), Kyler Murray (Arizona 2019) and Stroud with this distinction.

4.94

The percentage of Broncos pass plays this year that have ended in a sack, which is the fourth-best percentage in the NFL, trailing only Green Bay, Buffalo and Baltimore. It’s a rate of one sack every 20.2 pass plays — and for Nix specifically, one every 20.1 pass plays (since Riley Dixon and Courtland Sutton have combined for 3 attempts so far this season).

“Well, look, I would say a strength of his is his sack-to-pass-attempt ratio,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “If you guys put it together, he’d be near the top of the league.”

And that means when Nix does take two long sacks — as he did last week in Kansas City, for 33 yards in losses — Payton must be mindful not to overreach the QB.

“You have be careful to tell him too much when he’s really good at something, if that makes any sense,” Payton said. “You’d be careful to tell him too much.”

Denver ranked 27th in sack percentage last year.

This is why the Broncos’ offensive line ranks high in pass-protection metrics provided by ESPN Analytics and Pro Football Focus, among others.

However …

“Show me good pass-protection metrics and I’m going to show you a quarterback that doesn’t take sacks,” Payton said.

“Listen, it’s a credit to the O-line, but there’s some quarterbacks that are tough to protect for. Hold the ball long. … I’ve just gone through it in my career.”

 

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5

The rate at which first downs are earned on the ground against the Broncos defense — one first down every 5 rushing attempts. This is the third-best figure in the league so far this season. This sort of stoutness will likely come in handy against Atlanta’s dominant two-pronged running attack.