Broncos and Bo Nix are targeting subtle area of improvement in QB’s third year

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Bo Nix escaped and scrambled to his right during a training camp practice last week as defensive backs blanketed his targets and the pass rush closed in around him. The Denver Broncos quarterback turned upfield and sprinted toward the safety who was dropping down to cut off his progress. Then, Nix planted his right foot firmly in the ground and sharply cut inside to continue his run.

Coach Sean Payton has described the traits displayed by Nix in that sequence as his “superpower.”

The evasiveness has helped the Broncos take sacks over the past two seasons at easily the lowest rate in the NFL (3.8 percent of dropbacks). The quarterback’s explosiveness and getaway speed in the open field have helped the Broncos win games, too. Like when he sprinted into the end zone on a combined quarterback crack run in the fourth quarter of a thrilling comeback against the New York Giants. Or when he darted into the open field to push Denver into field-goal range during another final-drive win, this one in Houston. Only Buffalo’s Josh Allen has more quarterback runs of 20 or more yards than Nix (nine) over the past two seasons.

Yet, for all the positives Nix’s feet can produce, the Broncos are targeting a subtle change with their franchise quarterback in his third year that could reduce the frequency with which he relies on them.

“He does a very good job of avoiding the sack, the minus play,” Payton said last week when asked for an area he’d like to see Nix improve in 2026. “Then, because of that, he’s very good with his progression. I mean, clean with it. He’s not someone who’s … slow to process; it’s the other way. So there are sometimes where he’s through one (progression) so fast. … But I’d rather deal with that than the slow processor who’s getting sacked.”

The Broncos have had, by far, the NFL’s best sack differential over the past two seasons (plus-84; 53 points better than the second-ranked L.A. Rams). It is a critical part of their winning formula and a far cry from the minus-10 figure during Payton’s first season in Denver in 2023 with Russell Wilson at quarterback. That’s why Payton made clear the Broncos aren’t trying to keep Nix from accessing a strength that has ample benefits for Denver’s offensive attack. But the coach intimated there are opportunities for Nix to stick longer at times with the early reads in his progression.

“He’s a real good foot athlete,” Payton said. “You don’t feel someone who’s cumbersome at all. I think it’s one of his gifts. Within the framework of each pass play, the (defining) of a three (step drop), three-no-hitch, one big five (step-drop) and a hitch, some of those specifics that put him exactly in time with the depth of the route, I think is something I’m sure he’s working on.”

When Davis Webb was named the Broncos offensive coordinator in February, he quickly went to work on a project with the team’s passing-game staff that served as a deep audit of Nix’s first two seasons as the team’s quarterback. The big-picture goal was to identify how to best build upon Nix’s strengths in ways that benefit the efficiency of the offense as a whole. One aspect of that work, Webb said last week, was making sure routes were being designed to complement the way in which Nix scans the field.

“He’s definitely progressing in that area,” Webb said. “There were some long areas in the offseason with the pass-game staff of really trying to evaluate and watch the last two years of him playing and, ‘How does the first read marry up with our second read depth-wise and play-call wise, (given) where we are at a point in the game?’ I think we’ve done a good job managing that. … I think it’s noticeable the strides he’s taken in hanging on one (read), getting to two and three, and then getting to his legs.”

Webb said he sees a progression with Nix that closely mirrors where Allen was as he entered his third NFL season. The Buffalo quarterback in 2020 — Webb was one of the team’s backups that season — posted a 107.2 passer rating that still stands as the best in his career. He made the Pro Bowl for the first time as his completion percentage jumped from 58.8 as a second-year starter in 2019 to 69.2. Allen benefited that season from the arrival of standout receiver Stefon Diggs, and Webb said in the spring he views new Broncos receiver Jaylen Waddle as a similarly impactful addition.

“I think he’s right on par with the other guys I’ve been around going into Year 3,” Webb said. “I’m really satisfied where he’s at, both getting in and out of plays, getting to the huddle, getting in and out of the huddle fast, checking plays when it’s appropriate, not overthinking, getting completions underneath and using his feet. I think the injury last year, it was important for him to kind of move around a little bit early here, and I think he’s done a really good job. I’m really satisfied with where he is.”

The Broncos’ veteran defense has provided ample opportunities to test the tweaks the Broncos are making offensively. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has shown Nix “every defensive structure imaginable” during the camp’s first three weeks, the quarterback said Monday. Joseph on Saturday credited the way Nix has found answers to the new ways in which he’s being challenged, noting that the quarterback’s deep-ball accuracy has been “off the charts” in camp.

“It’s safeties from everywhere, blitzes from everywhere, fronts from everywhere,” Nix said of the defense. “That just helps you as a quarterback get your eyes up and then slow the game down once you get into a game setting. For me, it’s been irreplaceable to go against VJ, and not only his defense, but I can ask him questions and figure out the ‘why’ behind some things.”

One sign Nix is working on sticking with first reads a little bit more when circumstances allow: He is actually throwing in the direction of All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II. The quarterback during his first two training camps would quickly zoom past his first read if that receiver was being defended by Surtain, a decision commonly made during the season by opposing quarterbacks. In this camp, though, Nix hasn’t been shy about going after Surtain. Success has been predictably limited, but it sheds light on the comfort level Nix has to experiment with things as he prepares for his third season.

“My first two years, if he was over there, I pretty much worked the other side of the field,” Nix said. “But I don’t think that does him (due) diligence. (Let’s) get him better at the same time. I don’t mind throwing it his way and getting an incompletion on the stat sheet just to help him out. And then, every once in a while when you do complete one on him, it’s good for the morale of the offense and shows us we’re also really good and can attack the best player in football on the defense.”

The Broncos will play at least some starters Friday in their preseason opener at Atlanta, but Payton declined to say whether Nix would see the field in a game for the first time since suffering a broken ankle during the playoff win against the Bills. The quarterback, after two offseason procedures on that right ankle, has had a full workload running the first-team offense in camp, and Payton said last week that Nix’s “movement that we’re seeing right now is back to where it was.” That was evident as Nix sprinted into the open field while running the same quarterback sweep play that resulted in that aforementioned touchdown against the Giants.

Broncos trying to ‘get a handle’ on soft-tissue injuries

The Broncos finished Monday’s practice with a tweak to their normal schedule. After end-of-workout wind sprints, the team separated into lines for another stretching session, mirroring the one they conduct to begin practices. That change, Payton said, was a response to a handful of soft-tissue injuries that have crept up for the Broncos in camp over the past two weeks.

“We’ve got to get a handle on the soft tissues,” Payton said. “We’ve had a couple strains — either hamstring or groin — and we continue to fight through that.”

The latest player to deal with one of those issues is running back J.K. Dobbins, who left Monday’s practice early and didn’t return. Payton said he expected Dobbins to be fine and added that the team was “just being smart” with a veteran player with a significant injury history, but it has been a concerning enough issue that the coach addressed it without any prompting as he spoke to reporters following practice. Wide receivers Waddle and Marvin Mims Jr. are among the players who have missed practices in the past week due to the kind of injuries Payton described.

“I don’t think it’s heat related as much as, you’re always trying to look at your pre-practice routine,” Payton said. “Your hydration, obviously. It’s (also) incumbent on the player. It’s hard for anyone to know your soft tissue. I’m always looking at what we did leading up to a period where someone had a strain. We had a warm-down (stretch) after practice and we’ll continue to focus on it.”