Bo Nix cracks top-10 on two different QB traits ranked by ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky

The offseason lists haven’t been real kind to Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix.

Two different surveys from ESPN and The Athletic put Nix around the No. 18 ranked quarterback in the NFL.

Coming off back-to-back playoff campaigns to start his career, including guiding the Broncos to the AFC Title Game last season, both polls felt a little low.

Luckily, Nix has former QB turned ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky in his corner.

Orlovsky revealed seven different top-10 lists on Thursday morning, ranking quarterbacks by key traits. The categories were arm strength, ball placement, mechanics, decision-making, pocket presence, second reaction ability and rushing ability.

Bo Nix made the top-10 for both second-reaction ability (No. 6) and rushing ability (No. 9).

“Nix surprised me,” Orlovsky wrote in the second-reaction section. “He really became a broken-play artist last season. His eight TD throws from outside the pocket tied for the second most in the league, and no one made more outside-the-pocket throws last season than Nix (133). It was a big part of his game.”

Anyone who watched the Broncos last season knows Bo Nix thrived when things were off schedule. The more chaos, the better, as Nix seemed to always come through in the clutch.

That helped the Broncos go 14-3 and earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC, including memorable and thrilling comebacks against the Eagles and Giants among others.

As for rushing ability, Nix finished with the 11th most yards on the ground among QBs. He racked up 356 while scoring five touchdowns. That was tied for the fifth most with Daniel Jones and Patrick Mahomes.

And even coming off two ankle surgeries, Nix has vowed to keep running the football and told Kay Adams that’s what gets him into the flow of the game.

Would it have been nice to see Bo Nix earn a top-10 slot in any of the other five categories? Of course. But some respect is better than none and Orlovsky seems to like the intangibles in Nix’s game.

To see the full rankings, click here.

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