Broncos coach Payton isn’t considering benching Nix

It didn’t take long for Broncos coach Sean Payton to field the question during his conference call with Denver-area media on Monday morning: Would he consider benching quarterback Bo Nix?

Payton quickly swatted it down, saying he’s not considering a change at quarterback after a six-week start to the season in which the Broncos offense heads into Monday ranked next-to-last in total offense and average gain per play, 28th in passing offense, 24th in EPA per play and 28th in success rate.

Nix himself ranks 24th among 33 eligible quarterbacks in EPA per play, 27th in completion percentage over expected, 28th in success rate, and 31st in ESPN QBR, ahead of only Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield and Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers.

But Payton expects Nix to improve — in part due to better form elsewhere in the offense.

“He is gonna become the byproduct of all the things that get improved,” Payton said.

Next Sunday against the Cardinals should offer a prime chance for that. Arizona’s defense ranks 30th in EPA per dropback allowed and 25th in success rate on a per-dropback basis. The Cardinals are also surrendering a league-worst 8.01 yards per pass play this season; at 5.33 yards per pass play, the Broncos rank 29th.

To that end, Payton believes he can create chances for Nix to take the downfield shots that have been lacking so far this season, especially in the last four games. Nix had no completions that traveled more than 10 air yards beyond the line of scrimmage last week and just four in the last three games after posting 14 such completions in Weeks 1-3.

Currently, Nix ranks last in the NFL among eligible quarterbacks in air yards per attempt, at 5.6.

“We’ll be able to get the ball down the field,” Payton said. “… That starts with me and us giving (Nix) those opportunities.”

And based on what Payton conveyed, the Broncos’ first-team quarterback will get time to figure things out after his frustrating start.

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