Dover and Cecil project a monster year for Bo Nix in 2026

The conversation around Bo Nix this offseason has been dominated by one word – ankle. The injury. The surgeries. The rehab. The timeline.

Every story, every segment, every interview has circled back to the same fundamental question of whether the Broncos quarterback will be physically ready to perform at the level he established over his first two professional seasons. That concern is legitimate. It deserves the attention it has received.

But somewhere beneath the injury discourse, a different conversation has been quietly building. It’s one that has nothing to do with limitations and everything to do with upside.

On a recent edition of “Dover and Cecil” on 104.3 The Fan, hosts Josh Dover and Cecil Lammey set aside the health questions for a moment and focused instead on what a fully operational Bo Nix might actually produce in 2026. The numbers they landed on should get Broncos Country’s attention.

Dover started with his projection.

“Cece, you know my projected stat line – the number for passing yards, I don’t even think it’s that crazy. It’s 269 extra yards from what he had accomplished a year ago. And it’s 4,200 yards,” Dover said.

That’s a reasonable leap when viewed against the trajectory. Nix threw for 3,775 yards as a rookie and followed it up with 3,931 in year two. An increase of roughly 270 yards represents steady, organic growth, the kind of jump that happens naturally as a quarterback settles deeper into a system and develops stronger chemistry with his weapons.

Lammey, however, wasn’t interested in conservative estimates.

“BOleive it or not, I believe Bo Nix is going to have at least 4,200 yards. And I would put that number more around 4,500, maybe even 4,700 yards passing for Bo Nix this year,” Lammey said.

That is a significantly bolder projection, one that would place Nix among the top passers in the entire NFL. But it isn’t built on wishful thinking. It’s built on the structural changes happening around the quarterback.

Jaylen Waddle gives Nix a legitimate deep threat that this offense has never had. Davis Webb’s play calling is expected to open the passing game in ways that Sean Payton’s sometimes rigid menu didn’t always allow. And the supporting cast around Nix – Courtland Sutton, Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims, Pat Bryant, Evan Engram – is deeper and more dangerous than anything he has worked with previously.

Dover then zoomed out to the total picture.

“So that’s just passing. So if he had 4,500 yards passing and another 300 yards rushing, he’s flirting with 5k,” Dover said.

That is the number that stops fans in their tracks. Five-thousand total yards from a quarterback entering his third season would put Nix in historically elite company. And it isn’t a fantasy; it is the natural math of a passer who has improved every year, paired with a rushing baseline that Nix has already established as a fundamental part of his game.

Lammey tied the projection directly to the coaching change that makes it possible.

“And that’s what you’ve got this year with Davis Webb calling plays,” Lammey said.

The pieces are in place. The weapons are loaded. The play caller is new. And the quarterback has done nothing but improve since the day he arrived in Denver.

Dover and Lammey aren’t predicting a miracle season. They are projecting the logical next step for a franchise QB surrounded by the best supporting cast of his career.

The only thing standing between Nix and those numbers is the ankle. If the rehab has gone the way every report suggests it has, the ceiling for this offense may be higher than anyone outside of Denver is willing to admit.

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