Bo Nix set the FBS single-season completion percentage record during his final year at the University of Oregon. But.
Bo Nix threw for an impressive 4,508 yards in 2023. But.
Last season, Bo Nix had a touchdown-interception ratio of 15 to 1. But.
Despite a historic finale to his college career, there is always a “but” with Bo Nix’s game. What usually follows is criticism that he only had success with short passes in Oregon’s offence.
“Quite frankly, I completed a lot of long ones too,” the 24-year-old said when asked by Denver media how he responded to the criticism. “When viewers return to watch the film, they will be able to see everything they missed. But that has come and gone. I’m happy to be here and do anything I can to win the games.”
The Denver Broncos’ first-round pick is also correct.
According to Sports Info Solutions, the 6-foot-2, 217-pound quarterback was the most accurate quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft on sideline throws of more than 10 yards. Nix’s 60 percent on-target rate outperformed Jayden Daniels (59%), Michael Penix Jr. (56%), Caleb Williams (55%), Drake Maye (52%), and J.J. McCarthy (51%). All five quarterbacks were selected ahead of Nix.
In fact, Nix improved as he threw the ball more downfield.
According to Pro Football Focus, Nix’s final year at Oregon saw over 40% of his passes between the line of scrimmage and nine yards downfield. Furthermore, about 30 percent of his passes occurred behind the line of scrimmage.
As Sean Payton stated several times after the Broncos selected the signal caller with the 12th choice in the draft, Nix had to play inside the offence he was in, and that should not be held against him.
Behind the line of scrimmage, Nix completed more than 90% of his passes and had a PFF passing grade of 75. The results were similar for throws within nine yards of the line of scrimmage, as he completed more than 80 percent of his passes with the same PFF grade.
He was much more successful later in his career.
Nix raked up the stats on passes over 10 yards down the field, accounting for more than 66 percent of his touchdown passes. Nix had PFF pass grades of over 90 for both medium passes (10 to 19 yards) and deep passes (more than 20 yards).
The Broncos’ analytics confirmed all of this.
“Obviously, he’s played a lot of football, but [he excelled in] sack differential, turnover differential, accuracy, and third-down throwing. “[He was] first, first, first, first in this class,” Payton stated after picking Nix. “First in end of half, first in end of game, two-minute situations, second in red zone.”
“Then let’s do another passing statistic and remove a lot of the short, underneath throws,” Denver’s coach explained. “Obviously, that’s part of what they do offensively, and if you eliminate it and return to the stats, it still ranks #1. I would say his arm strength was pretty good—we saw it at the Pro Day, but it was also evident in the private session.”
Oregon’s offence relies heavily on the short passing game. There is no denying that.
But, as Bo knows, when it came time to dig deep, Nix delivered.
Deep passes are not Bo Nix’s weakness; they are his strength.
“I’m excited, and I don’t think I need to show anything else because I’m in the perfect spot right now, and I can’t wait to get to work with the team,” said the second-highest drafted quarterback in Broncos franchise history.
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