Nothing pleased Broncos Country more than to see all of Bo Nix’s pre- and post-draft critics being forced to eat crow in the wake of his historic season. The Denver Broncos drafted Nix at No. 12 overall last year, and he was the sixth quarterback off the board.

The prevailing opinion in the national NFL media sphere was that the Broncos had ‘reached’ on Nix, taking him in Round 1 instead of late Day 2, as so many pundits had him graded. The critics called him a ‘system quarterback’ at Oregon with a below-average arm and questioned his ability to make every NFL throw.

Sean Payton didn’t let the noise affect his read on Nix. Payton said he was looking to “fall in love” with a quarterback in the 2024 draft class, and roughly 16 throws into his private workout with the Broncos, the veteran coach knew he’d found his guy.

Nix would go on to win the open quarterback competition in training camp, vanquishing two young veterans to become the first Broncos rookie signal-caller to start a regular-season opener since John Elway in 1983. It was a slow start, but by October, Nix kicked his game into high gear and the rest is history.

Those freezing-cold media takes from the aftermath of the 2024 draft have been exposed and laid bare for the world to see in the form of a media montage clip that popped up on X. Broncos Country will get a kick out of reflecting on how Nix made those critics eat their words.

One of the biggest critics of the Broncos and Nix was FOX Sports‘ Nick Wright, who makes his Kansas City Chiefs fandom no secret in his NFL analysis. Wright was infamous among Broncos Country for slamming Payton and the team for releasing Russell Wilson to the tune of an $85 million dead-money hit on the salary cap and opined that Denver then “over-drafted” Nix.

Enjoy the clip, Broncos Country. And let ’em hate.

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Nix ultimately delivered a historic first season, leading all rookie quarterbacks in passing yards and touchdowns, garnering an invitation to the Pro Bowl (which he declined due to health reasons), and leading the Broncos to 10 wins and a playoff berth. His 29 passing touchdowns are the second-most in NFL history, behind only Justin Herbert’s 31. Not bad for a guy who was supposed to be a third-round pick.

During his end-of-season press conference following Denver’s disappointing loss in Buffalo in the Wildcard Round of the playoffs, Nix reflected on how he grew as a quarterback by starting a whopping 18 games as a rookie.

“Definitely just the huddle operation, and getting calls in,” Nix said on January 13. “Whether it’s changing a call mid-huddle, getting guys orchestrated, getting them lined up and making sure we’re all running the same thing. Breaking the huddle, cadence, the whole process of the pre-snap, that’s different from college. I think as each game went on, I felt more comfortable with that and got better at it.”

Nix’s growing comfortability and confidence as the season marched on was evident. By October, he’d seemingly kicked the training wheels off, going on one heck of a romp. He would be named Offensive Rookie of the Month of October.

And were it not for a back injury he suffered in Vegas in Week 12, who knows what statistical heights Nix would have reached as a rookie? He rewrote the franchise rookie record books, and made a few entries in the NFL’s all-time annals as it was. But maybe, health-willing, he would have similarly rewritten the NFL’s rookie record books, too.

Nix was the most experienced college quarterback to ever enter the NFL draft, and that experience, combined with his talents, was always going to serve him well at the next level. But what the critics missed in their post-draft takes on Nix landing in Denver was how he was the perfect scheme fit for Payton.

Not only was Nix the ideal quarterback to captain Payton’s offense, but those critics should have recognized that his trial-and-error learning curve would be significantly mitigated by the coaching guidance of one of the brightest offensive NFL minds of the modern era.

Nix is very grateful for the faith Payton has in him, and for the coaching and guidance he received through his first NFL season.

“He’s meant a lot… He believed in me. He was quick to have my back at all times,” Nix said of Payton back in January. “I think that’s one of the most impressive things about him, is a lot of things, rookie this and that, things that happened this year, he never threw me under the bus… I was fortunate to be coached by him, by one of the best of all time.”

If Year 1 of the Payton/Nix partnership is any indication, the Broncos’ return to NFL prominence is just getting started. And while there’s still lingering shade and disrespect surrounding Nix this offseason, as time marches on, it will dwindle into non-existence.

And then, those same critics will come out of the woodwork as Nix ‘Bo-lievers,’ and try to pretend like they never made those freezing-cold takes. It’ll be as if it never happened.

Good luck getting Broncos Country to forget, though.

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