Vance Joseph isn’t sugarcoating what he’s seeing from Bo Nix this summer. The Broncos defensive coordinator has watched a training camp that’s been chippy, intense and “very competitive,” and amid all that heat, he says the third-year quarterback has taken a clear step in one area that matters most.
“Bo’s played well. He’s been accurate.
He’s moving very well,” Joseph said on Saturday. “That’s a great sign, but his deep-ball touch has been really off the charts this training camp.”
That’s notable because Nix’s deep passing was one of the easy talking points for outside critics all offseason. The national conversation kept circling back to whether he could consistently threaten defenses downfield, the kind of shorthand that shows up in quarterback rankings and casual debates alike. So far in Broncos camp, Nix has been answering that noise with actual throws.
The ball has been coming out with more purpose and more precision on the vertical game, and the results have stood out to Joseph even if they’ve come at the defense’s expense. Sean Payton wants more explosive plays, and the Broncos acted on that in March by trading for Jaylen Waddle. With Davis Webb now calling plays, camp has leaned into that downfield element, and Nix has been making the most of it.
“I know Sean wants to make more big plays this year, and it’s there. It’s happened in training camp,” Joseph said.
“It’s been two a day. I don’t like it for our defense, but I get it.”
Nix has connected deep with a number of targets, including Waddle before the receiver went down with a soft-tissue injury on Day 5 of camp. Tight end Evan Engram has also been among the early winners in the passing game when Nix has pushed the ball beyond the short stuff.
For Joseph, the big plays are annoying in the moment and encouraging in the bigger picture. His defense has kept winning most days of work, which is exactly what you’d expect from a unit that has been among the league’s best over the past two seasons. Training camp also tends to tilt in favor of the defense early, especially when offenses are sorting through installs and new pieces.
Still, the Broncos haven’t exactly been living on short fields and safe throws. There’s been a real emphasis on the run game, a physical grind Payton and Joseph want to harden the roster with before the season starts. And when Nix has taken his shots, he’s looked sharper than he did a year ago, including what appears to be a cleaner throwing motion after offseason work.
Joseph sees the payoff for the entire team, even if his side is the one getting challenged by those splash plays.
“Big-picture-wise, it’s so good for our team to watch him be so explosive with Waddle and Evan and those guys,” Joseph said of Nix. “It’s been competitive. It’s been a great camp on both sides, and both are playing well.”
Nix, for his part, has embraced the grind of going against Joseph’s defense in his third training camp. He called the experience “great” on Monday and said the variety he sees every day is helping him process the game faster.
“It’s been great,” Nix said on Monday. “When you get these reps, we’re seeing every defensive structure imaginable - safeties going everywhere, blitzes coming from everywhere, fronts from everywhere.
“That helps you as a quarterback get your eyes up and slows the game down when you get into a game setting. For me, it’s been irreplaceable to go against V.J., not only his defense, but also being able to ask him questions and understand the why behind certain things. It’s helped me as a quarterback in our system to see things and find different answers within what we do.”
That’s the part that makes this camp feel different for Denver. The offense is getting pushed, the defense is making life miserable, and Nix is getting valuable reps against one of the NFL’s toughest units. If the Broncos can clean up the soft-tissue injuries that have piled up since the pads came on, those reps could end up mattering even more.
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