Bo Nix is in the playoffs and has a date across the country with Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in their building.
Bo Nix is the first Denver Broncos quarterback to play in a playoff game since Peyton Manning. He also is a rookie. As such, the season-long praise for Nix is well-deserved, although Jay Gruden believes there is a limit.
Nix will face the Buffalo Bills, who effectively treated Week 18 like a bye week. The Bills have won their division and own the only win over Patrick Mahomes this season. Still, they have remained hungry all season, punishing those who struggled in practice like Keon Coleman.
However, as the season enters its twilight, some are looking back on Bo Nix, trying to nail down when he popped. One of his teammates claimed it was early.
Mike McGlinchey’s view
Broncos insider Andrew Mason took to Twitter/X on January 6 to post a clip of an interview with Broncos right tackle Mike McGlinchey on the “Orange and Blue Today,” when McGlinchey realized he was ‘the guy,’ as Mason put it.
McGlinchey explained: “It has to be at training camp. I think we all came out of training camp knowing that this guy was going to be pretty special.
“It was moments of, hey, threw a pick in practice or something in practice that he didn’t like and made sure it was corrected for the next time he did it.
“Bo is a very, very prideful guy, and is very proud to be the quarterback of our team. And with that comes a great responsibility of being on task, being a guy that can make mistakes. And he’s learned so fast.”
“You go down in the two-minute drill a couple of times and you’re like, okay, this kid’s got something special. He’s made of the right stuff and the ability to just keep coming in as if he’s learning how to do this. And the thing that you love about Bo is who he is, and it just makes you so much it gives you so much confidence in what he’s going to become,” he added.
In other words, Nix improved as he went along, not making the same mistake twice. Based on his logic, he had seen quarterbacks making the same mistakes repeatedly, proving that they could not improve.
Sean Payton deserves credit
By the end of the 2023 season, the Denver Broncos were not a winning franchise, but they had blown out the Chiefs, gotten close to .500, and upset some impressive opponents That left some fans satisfied enough to head into next season with Russell Wilson.
However, Payton was not satisfied and despite calls to retain Wilson as a bridge quarterback at least, he and George Paton moved on from Wilson, piling up dead cap unlike anyone had seen.
Payton then skipped free agency when it came to quarterback, and took his chances on the draft, landing Bo Nix with the 12th overall pick.
Against all odds, the Broncos are in the post-season while working through some of the toughest circumstances a team can, and if they achieve anything in the playoffs, it will be down to Bo Nix’s fearless play.
