Bo Nix is starting to collect the kind of receipts that are hard to ignore.
The Broncos took plenty of heat when they made him the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was the sixth quarterback selected, and the last one taken in the first round, coming off the board just after Michael Penix Jr and JJ McCarthy.
A lot of people saw a reach. A lot of people said Denver forced it.
That noise got louder after Nix’s first two games in the league. But since then, he’s spent his time making the criticism look worse and worse.
If you strip away Denver’s 0-2 start to his career in 2024, Nix’s regular-season production jumps off the page: a 24-8 record, 7,322 passing yards, 62 total touchdowns, 726 rushing yards and a 93.2 passer rating.
That’s the kind of body of work that has Broncos fans feeling pretty good about where this is headed. And now Nix has another line on his resume that helps his case: for the second straight year, he’s on the NFL Top 100 Players list.
This time, he landed at No. 59 in the 2026 rankings, up from No. 64 a year ago.
No. 59 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026… @broncos QB Bo Nix! @NFLFilms pic.twitter.com/thceLLwTk0
- NFL (@NFL) July 20, 2026
Even if 2025 didn’t look quite as explosive as some expected, Nix still showed improvement in a bunch of areas. His wins, passing yards, interception percentage, success rate, passing first downs, yards per completion, yards per game, QBR, sacks, sack percentage, fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives all moved in the right direction.
The touchdowns and passer rating dipped, and those are the numbers that usually grab the most attention. But the broader picture still points to a quarterback who was cleaner and more efficient in a lot of ways.
Denver also has more around him now. Jaylen Waddle is in the mix, the running back room has been beefed up, and there’s more help at tight end.
The bigger point is simple: Nix’s peers around the league have now voted him inside the top 65 two years in a row. That should carry some weight, even if these rankings are far from perfect. Players can be wrong, and the list has already drawn criticism for things like Lamar Jackson being ranked 69th.
Still, the NFL Top 100 matters. It tells you how other players view a guy, and in Nix’s case, the message is becoming clearer.
The Broncos believe they have a franchise quarterback. Year three should tell the full story, one way or another. If Nix really is playing like the 59th-best player in the league, Denver should have a real shot at going all the way.
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There is also a little extra draft-day intrigue hanging over Colemans first NFL season, the kind that tends to linger when a player lands in a place that once looked like a natural fit. The Broncos see a useful piece they can deploy based on game flow and health, but the larger question is whether Coleman can turn that early role into something bigger and give the team a reason to revisit how the board unfolded. [Read more 🡒]