How Bo Nix earned the respect of his veteran Broncos teammates

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Bo Nix not only had to win the starting quarterback job for the Denver Broncos, he had to garner the respect of a locker room of veteran teammates, a slew of whom will regularly surround him in the huddle throughout the season to come.

That’s not easy for any rookie to do.

But in the Broncos locker room after their first two preseason games, the kind words and praise from veterans flowed. They’d been flowing throughout training camp, too, with one common thread: the array of specific praise for varying attributes the No. 12 overall pick.

Safety P.J. Locke pointed out how Nix did well at looking off safeties.

“Right now, man, what I notice from Bo is, he’s a good look-off guy,” Locke said on Aug. 1. “… Even in OTAs, I was like, ‘Man, I just cannot get a bead off of him.’ Because most of the time, rookie quarterbacks, their first read, they’re going to look at it and he’ll look you off real quick. I think he studies the safeties and he can tell (that) we’re super instinctive and we try to play games with him, so he try to play games back.”

Inside linebacker Jonas Griffith gave props to Nix for his speed.

“It’s kind of crazy because he had a scramble and he was running a few days ago, I was like, ‘Wow, he’s kind of fast,'” Griffith said Aug. 6. “I consider myself a fast guy. He’s not as fast as me, but he’s pretty fast.”

Tight end Lucas Krull noted two weeks ago that Nix threw an “electric” ball.

“I think he’s the type of guy, man, when he lets it go, there’s always something with it, and you know it’s gonna be a ball that gives anyone anyone an opportunity to make a play.”

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(Photo by Andrew Mason / DenverSports.com)

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And then Nix went to Indianapolis on Aug. 11 and showed that those practice plaudits had meaning under the lights. Because as wide receiver Tim Patrick pointed out, Nix went on the field and did the “same thing he’s been doing in practice. Just making plays, taking charge of the huddle and just being Bo Nix.”

And being Bo Nix means helping out teammates, as running back Jaleel McLaughlin explained.

“He’s teaching me things,” the second-year running back said, explaining that Nix provided him some route-running tips.

Foot speed and passing velocity are reasonably common traits for a first-round rookie quarterback. Showing a veteran-like ability to manipulate safeties and guide others in their routes is not. Starting 61 games in college helps, but that would diminish Nix’s own natural gifts of leadership and presence.

With those, he earned the No. 1 job — and the belief of the Broncos locker room.

AND THEN THERE IS HOW BO NIX LEARNS …

… which is to say, fast.

“Yeah, he learns very quickly,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said. “He doesn’t usually make the same mistake twice When he sees something, it’s something new and he makes a mistake based on it, he gets it. And the next time he sees it, he understands what happened the first time and he corrects.”

Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi praised QB Bo Nix today being a “really quick learner”:

“He doesn’t usually make the same mistake twice,” Lombardi said as he went into detail: pic.twitter.com/6kV7DnWAmn

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) August 22, 2024

Thursday wasn’t the first time such sentiments were conveyed regarding Bo Nix. Not even one week into training camp, right tackle Mike McGlinchey noted the same aspect of the rookie quarterback.

“He takes a lot of pride in not screwing things up — or if he does once, he’s not going to do it again,” McGlinchey said. “… Bo has been an impressive person in our locker room.”

And that — combined with Nix’s diligence — has allowed him to earn leadership gravitas, even without a regular-season pro start to his name.

“I think it’s impressive. It’s a hard transition,” Lombardi said. “There’s a lot to learn offensively and learning about the defense that you’re facing. He’s done a really good job, and I think the veterans respect it when they see that someone’s putting in the work.

“You can definitely tell that with Bo.”

And that will make easier the task of becoming a leader to an offense that possesses seven first-teamers who each have at least 6 seasons of experience. Nix handles himself like a pro, and the seasoned hands in the huddle see it.