Bo Nix Mania, NFL Trade Deadline Madness | MAILBAG

Sean Payton's Increasing Trust in Bo Nix, NFL Teams Ready to Wheel and Deal, Plus the Indianapolis Colts' Not-So-Secret Weapon

Rookie quarterbacks are taking the NFL by storm.

Jayden Daniels has played his way legitimately into the MVP conversation while transforming the Washington Commanders into instant contenders. Meanwhile, Caleb Williams is improving each week, and after leading a systematic dismantling of the lowly Carolina Panthers, looks the part of a legitimate franchise quarterback capable of guiding the Bears into the postseason conversation.

Bo Nix has been a bit overshadowed, if not the forgotten man in this year’s crop of elite rookie quarterbacks, but not today.

Inside this week’s Football Friday Mailbag, a coach whose team lost to Nix breaks down what the rookie signal caller is doing well, plus valuable insight from friend and colleague Cody Roark on what he’s seen from Nix through his career’s first month.

We also get into trade deadline speculation, which teams may be most aggressive, and an emergent star in Indianapolis.

Let’s get right into your questions!

Denver seems to be all in on Bo Nix, and dedicated to helping him improve. It looks to me, in spite of a lot of fan opinions, that the coaches are easing Nix in slowly still. For example, designed screens and short passes. Do you see it this way also? Nix has shown me he can rip it when needed. Are still in the ‘training wheels’ phase? (

Watching Nix against the Raiders, it was stark how much the game seems to be slowing down for him, compared to the first four weeks of his career.

During the preseason, Nix showed the ability to make anticipatory throws on target and a strong chemistry with his receivers that likely helped make the decision easier for head coach Sean Payton to push him up the depth chart and name him Denver’s Week 1 starting quarterback.

Against the Raiders, it really seemed on Sunday that Payton had the full offensive playbook at his disposal for Nix, who made sound decisions from the pocket and was able to effectively and consistently orchestrate time consuming drives (with possessions of 38, 39, 50, and 58 yards which each resulted in touchdowns), as well as quick strikes getting the ball to his playmakers and letting them work their magic after the catch.

“Bo Nix is a product of excellent coaching,” a defensive coach who has played the Broncos tells me, on the condition of anonymity to speak freely.

There’s certainly something to that theory, given Payton’s track record of coaching Drew Brees through the prime of his Hall of Fame career.

All of those quick screens and short passes might just be what’s key to the Broncos’ offense functioning at its peak right now.

The coach believes the combination of Nix’s quick release and how rapidly he processes information is accelerating his development.

“During our game and another one this season,” the coach explains. “Neither defense got a sack. Lots of seven-man protection for him, two wide receiver routes, and when it wasn’t max protection, the ball was out so fast that they aren’t allowing him to make mistakes.

“With young quarterbacks, it comes down to hitting him which will force those mistakes. We weren’t able to do that.”

Nix finished Sunday completing 19-of-27 passing attempts for 206 yards with two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and was the driving force behind the Broncos’ 34-18 shellacking of a division rival.

While his production hasn’t been gaudy, passing for 866 yards with three touchdowns to four interceptions so far this season, Nix has now gone three straight weeks without tossing an interception and help guide Denver to three straight victories, potentially emerging as the closest thing the Kansas City Chiefs have to a threat in the AFC West (Patrick Mahomes and Co. have no legitimate concerns in the division).

So, how much of Nix’s rapid ascension is a byproduct of the Broncos’ scheme or simply getting more comfortable with the speed of the NFL and getting better with reps?

I posed that question to friend and colleague Cody Roark, who hosts the LockedOnBroncos Podcast and covers the Broncos for Mile High Sports.

“Bo’s biggest leap has been his decision making since the first two weeks,” Roark tells me. “He’s not putting the ball in harms way, outside of last Sunday, he hasn’t been sacked very much.

“He’s also making the throws he missed in Week 1 (a dagger to Sutton against Seattle, in overtime), he nailed it in the second half against the Jets in the middle of a monsoon. Payton is doing more with him on a weekly basis, and he has full trust in him commanding the operation.

“Payton’s biggest thing right now is trying to paint a cleaner picture within the offense with their personnel groupings and run game to help the offense find more balance”

Nix’s growth and the trust Sean Payton has in him are clear signs of a quarterback finding his rhythm at the NFL level. If his trajectory continues, Nix might, eventually, be the key to disrupting the Chiefs' dominance.

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The Trade Deadline is now less than a month away, do you see any trades happening soon and can we expect another busy day on the trade deadline that we saw last year? (TMart5509 on Threads)

Last season’s trade deadline was one of the most active in recent history, with 15 different deals going down.

There’s a belief among league sources that this year may be just as active, especially at pass rusher and wide receiver, according to one prominent agent with several players mentioned in recent trade speculation.