It’s not if but when Bo Nix becomes the Denver Broncos starter at this point as his strong preseason has proven he was worthy of a first-round pick.

For one NFL expert, he’s not surprised Nix looks this good out of the gate, instead, his primary long-term concern with the Broncos quarterback still persists. Sports Illustrated’s NFL pundit Albert Breer joined the Dan Patrick Show and talked about Denver’s rookie quarterback.

“I would be alarmed if he didn’t look good after 61 starts in college, he’s supposed to look good, that’s the benefit of taking a guy who had a historic amount of time in college,” Breer said. “He should look ready. He was a multi-year starter at two different schools. He went through the ups and downs, he played in different offenses. He should be as prepared as any quarterback who has come out of college. It’s good that it looks the way that it does but that’s what we should expect.”

Nix, 24, is coming off a Heisman-nominated final year for the Oregon Ducks. To Breer’s point, he was a five-year starter in college for the Ducks and Auburn Tigers, finishing his school time as the Offensive Player of the Year in the Pac-12 last fall. Nix threw for 4,508 yards and 45 touchdowns to just three interceptions while tacking on another 234 yards and six touchdowns on the ground last fall. In 2022, Nix actually rushed for 510 yards and 14 touchdowns, showing he’s capable of getting outside of the pocket and is willing to put his body on the line.

In his first two preseason games, Nix’s 116.7 passer rating is second among all QBs this preseason. He’s thrown for 205 yards, connecting on 23 of his 30 tosses with two touchdowns to boot.

“The one thing that’s very obvious but notable is that the Broncos offense moves when he’s in there,” Breer said. “That’s simple but it means it’s an efficient operation when he’s in there which will get buy-in from other players in the locker room. I would be less worried about where Bo Nix is in years one and two but where he is in years four and five. I have a lot of confidence he’ll play at a competent NFL level fast. The question is, when it comes to paying a guy like that $50 or $60 million a year is he going to be able to level up to the point where you’re going to be ready and happy about doing that? People are less sure about that.”

To Breer’s point, Nix’s had a lot of success in college thanks to a good system, great athletes and throws near the line of scrimmage. But he was also great at other translatable skills. Nix’s ceiling might be slightly less than other rookie quarterbacks, say Zach Wilson, coming out of school with way less playing time and at 21. But Wilson may be out of the league soon whereas the Broncos look like they have a quality starter for years to come in Nix. Maybe, because he’s already ready, he can play into his potential and become one of the better quarterbacks in the league. But Breer could be right too, thankfully, it’s not really an issue in Denver for another four years.