Vic Fangio: Broncos ‘have their quarterback for the future’ in Bo Nix

Vic Fangio’s three years as Denver Broncos head coach came in the heart of the team’s infamous QB Carousel era.

But now when he looks at his old team, he sees that they have what he never did: a viable quarterback.

“They got their quarterback for the future,” Fangio, now the Eagles’ defensive coordinator, said Tuesday at his weekly press conference in Philadelphia.

“They looked long and hard for many years, and they’ve got one.”

And in Bo Nix, Vic Fangio sees echoes of another first-round pick of recent vintage.

“He’s a lot like Baker Mayfield,” Fangio said, referring to the Tampa Bay starter who was Cleveland’s No. 1 overall pick in 2018. “I think he might be Baker’s younger brother. Really good. Really, really good.”

Asked why he made the Mayfield comparison, Fangio elaborated.

“I mean, he’s a scrambler, he’s a competitor,” Fangio said. “He’ll throw the ball in tight places. He runs their offense really well.

“I think Sean [Payton] has done a great job bringing him along.”

VIC FANGIO NEVER HAD QB STABILITY

Three seasons on the job in Denver for Vic Fangio saw three different Week 1 starting quarterbacks.

Overall, Fangio had seven different starting quarterbacks — including Phillip Lindsay opening for Kendall Hinton in the infamous 2020 game that saw the Broncos without a regular QB.

And that defined his three-year tenure above all. From Joe Flacco to Brandon Allen to Drew Lock through Jeff Driskel, Brett Rypien and finally, Teddy Bridgewater, stability — and success — mostly eluded the Broncos.

Only with Bridgewater in 2021 did the Broncos achieve even a modicum of viability, He guided the Broncos to a 7-5 record in games he started and finished in 2021. But that wasn’t enough, and the Broncos lost the remainder of their 2021 games, dooming Fangio’s stewardship.

Despite the Broncos boasting a top-10 defense in 2019 and 2021, quarterback limitations put a ceiling on the team. Fangio knew it, and as he completed his final full day as head coach in January 2022, he pointed to the quality of quarterbacks with division rivals as the biggest thing separating them from the Broncos.

The Broncos went 2-10 against AFC West foes in Fangio’s final two seasons as head coach.

Vic Fangio’s answer to my question about what separates the other teams in the AFC West from the Broncos.

He opened by saying, “Those other three teams have top-shelf quarterbacks, which is obvious to everybody."pic.twitter.com/MXPq2Mknfo

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) January 9, 2022

“Those other three teams have top-shelf quarterbacks, which is obvious to everybody,” he said at the time, referring to Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes and then-Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, who led Las Vegas to the postseason that year. “We just need to get a little bit better.”

After Vic Fangio left, the Broncos took an ill-fated swing with Russell Wilson. He moved on, and now he boasts a Super Bowl ring, with his defense’s beatdown of the Chiefs last February serving as his magnum opus.

But one will always wonder what could have been for Uncle Vic if he’d had better quarterback play. Because that, more than anything else, sunk his tenure.

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