Broncos Mailbag: How much is rookie QB Bo Nix’s footwork a cause for concern going forward?
Denver Post
Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag weekly during the season and periodically during the offseason. Click here to submit a question.
Parker, do you think Bo Nix’s footing problems when he throws are something we need to be concerned about? That awful, awful throw he made that landed between two wide-open receivers is going to be stuck in my mind for a while.
— Mark, Arvada
Hey Mark, great question and thanks for getting us going this week.
It’s been an issue with Bo Nix so far, though head coach Sean Payton usually tries to downplay the conversation. And, to be clear, if I were coaching a rookie quarterback, I’d do the same thing that it appears Payton’s doing. Protect him at every public turn. Coach him hard behind closed doors but be relentlessly positive about him when talking to reporters. It’s not rocket science.
But to know anything about Payton’s offensive system is to understand that it’s about timing, rhythm and precision. This particular route combination with this particular formation means this particular footwork. It’s five steps and a hitch. Not five and no hitch or five and two hitches. Footwork should lead a quarterback through his progression, if that makes sense. Footwork is designed to marry together with what each target in the pattern is doing. Remember, this is a coach who believes adamantly that the difference of maybe a foot can make or break when it comes to receivers’ splits. He’s every bit as exacting, if not more, with quarterbacks.
I’m far from an expert on this stuff, but I don’t think it’s surprising that to a novice eye it looks like Nix at present appears far more comfortable in the RPO game, for example, than in play-action from under center. How many times has Nix ran a version of RPO with double slants right in his line of vision in his life? A whole lot, especially compared to the number of times he’s played from under center, turned his back to the defense to carry out a play fake and then flipped his head around and started his post-snap processing from there.
It’s been a mild surprise the way Nix has sometimes hit the top of his drop and then hesitated. In camp and in the preseason there was more often the rhythm of getting the ball out on time and where it’s supposed to go.
The play you’re referencing, it looked good to start but then after the top of the drop his feet got happy and he was kind of in between when he let the ball go.
Before the game, former Saints running back Deuce McAllister had really good insight into not only what the environment would be like but also on what he’s seen from Nix and the Broncos’ offense so far.
He said he sees a “stripped down” version of the offense but that it’s not surprising, since no rookie is going to be what Drew Brees was when the old New Orleans offenses got going. He also said he thought working with a rookie would test Payton’s patience but also would be “rejuvenating,” too.
“Even though he wants to go to the next level, still having to iron out the little small details and looking at the timing and rhythm, that’s everything,” McAllister told The Post. “If you’re not on time with it, you’ve thrown the blocking off and the rhythm off.”
Payton was asked about Nix’s feet on Monday and said, “I think you have to be careful you’re not over-coaching. There’s some things he does very well out of the pocket or climbing up in the pocket.”
“We start with the focus on timing of the route, the depth of the route, (are we) in the gun or under center? (Is it) three, five or seven (steps)? We work on the rhythm of the play so that his feet marry up to the depth of the route.
“The times where he’s climbing the pocket or moving in the pocket and we’re pretty smart about how much we say or how much we try to fix.”
Payton’s definitely got a point about over-coaching in the middle of the season. You’re not going to turn a rookie into a footwork savant between Wednesday and Sunday during the season when there’s an entire game plan to install each week and a lot of stuff going on. But make no mistake: Footwork will be a separator for Nix over the longer term for several reasons. Good footwork makes it easier to tap into your natural arm strength. It puts you in the right spot to deliver the ball accurately and on time. It sets the tempo for pretty much everything a quarterback does.
Combine continual improvement in that department with what Nix can do on the run and outside the pocket at this point, and you’ve got something. But ad libbing is not the path to sustainability.
Parker, we desperately need a tight end. What do you think of Penn State TE Tyler Warren? He’s a beast.
— Eric Price, Altoona, Pa.
Eric, you read my mind. Or maybe my social media during Penn State’s comeback win against USC earlier this month. Warren, obviously, had a monster game that weekend. He caught 17 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown against the Trojans. On the season he’s already got 40 catches for 513 yards and four touchdowns. Not often you see a collegiate tight end threaten the 1,000-yard mark but Warren could do it this fall.
What I tweeted (or X’d or whatever) during that game: “Every team could use a Tyler Warren, but I know a team that could definitely use a Tyler Warren.”
Every team could use a Tyler Warren, but I know a team that could definitely use a Tyler Warren. https://t.co/kGH0dEQduu
— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel) October 12, 2024
So yeah, several months out from the draft it certainly seems like a pick that could do wonders for the Broncos offense well into the future. Their production overall in the passing game last year was abysmal and it’s threatening to be just as bad this year.
Again, I’ve not spent really any time on draft stuff at this point, but people who have say it’s shaping up to be a pretty good group of tight ends. As a Big Ten follower, the first name that jumps to mind along with Warren is Michigan’s Colston Loveland. He could be a first-rounder. There are also several other interesting players like Georgia’s Oscar Delp and Ben Yurosek, Texas’ Gunnar Helm, Iowa’s Luke Lachey, LSU’s Mason Taylor and more.
Have the Broncos ever been shut out at home? From my research, they have not.
— Patrick, Littleton
Hey Patrick, good call. The Broncos have never been shut out at home in franchise history. A stat I double-checked at the end of the third quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers earlier this month since they were still stuck on zero 45 minutes into the game.
Sometimes you can get a feel for how a season is going by how frequently you head to the team record books to look stuff up, good or bad. In this case, there have been a couple of times when I’ve had to check on dubious offensive marks so far this season. Despite that, though, the Broncos are 4-3 overall and on Thursday night rushed for their most yardage in a single game since 2013.
If they’re carrying a shutout deep into Sunday’s game against Carolina, which has surrendered 34.7 points per game so far this season, that would be a no bueno situation.
What’s the chance that the Broncos are looking past Carolina and are instead focused on Baltimore?
— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.
Hey Ed, never say never, but that would surprise me. Doesn’t mean Denver is a surefire lock to win, but I don’t think this team is getting ahead of itself. It hasn’t really earned that right yet, right? They’re off to a nice start this year and the overall expectation has changed since the team started 1-5 under Payton last year. But this isn’t a group that’s good enough or has enough success banked yet to be looking past anybody.
How’s Pat Surtain II doing? Is there an ETA as to when he’ll come back?
And Cody Barton played himself into a contract extension, right? He looked amazing against the Saints.
— Ryan C., Denver
Hey Ryan, good questions. We’ll find out more about Surtain on Wednesday and whether he’s through enough of the steps in the concussion protocol to be back on the practice field in any capacity. It’s just not worth guessing or getting ahead of ourselves until that point, especially with head injuries. The recovery isn’t always linear and it’s different for each individual person. So, let’s see how the practice week goes.
Obviously the sooner he’s back the better for Denver, but by far more important than that is his own recovery.
As for Barton, he did indeed play a heck of a game against New Orleans. Typically, though, teams don’t hand out contract extensions for a couple of good games. And there’s really no reason to, either. Barton’s on a one-year deal. If he continues to play well, it seems natural there’d be interest from Denver to bring him back. If he feels comfortable — and it certainly seems that way so far on the field — you’d think that interest would be mutual. But there’s just not really a rush at this point. He’s not going anywhere the rest of this year and you can figure out the future after the season.
After seven weeks, what’s the biggest surprise you’ve seen from this team? I say it’s the pass rush. I knew we were gonna be better, but I didn’t expect everyone to click on all cylinders like they have. We have three guys (Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper and Zach Allen) who could all end up with double-digit sack totals by the end of the year.
— Marshall, Parker
Yeah, Marshall, I think you’re spot on.
It’s interesting, too, because all offseason we talked about and wrote about the fact that the defensive line should be perhaps the most improved group on the roster because of the additions of John Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach. And yet the production and disruption up front from the pass-rush has still been surprising.
The Broncos enter Week 8 second in the NFL in sacks (28) and, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, first in overall pressures (113) and third in pressure rate (41.1%). That’s doing work.
The trio you mentioned gets attention and rightfully so, but I don’t think it can be overstated how much Franklin-Myers’ addition to the front has changed the way Denver can play. Offensive lines no longer can just turn their extra help toward Allen. If they do, JFM has a one-on-one. If they double JFM, Allen or somebody else is one-on-one. If a back gets worried about picking up an inside linebacker showing pressure, an outside linebacker is one-on-one or even running free off the edge. That’s made them an exciting, disruptive group and one that very obviously has fun every time they’re out there.
It’s just one metric, but Denver finished 30th in ESPN’s team pass rush win rate in 2023. So far this fall, Vance Joseph’s group is third. That’s about as big a turnaround as you can have.
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