Sean Payton and the rest of the Denver Broncos organization have spent a good portion of this offseason attempting to pick up the pieces from the Russell Wilson debacle. They obviously cut the veteran quarterback but then traded for former No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson while also drafting Oregon product Bo Nix with the 12th pick in this year’s draft.
Wilson and Nix have been entrenched, along with returning veteran backup Jarrett Stidham, in a quarterback battle so far this offseason. All expectations are that Nix will eventually take over as the starter but when has been put into question, specifically if it would be him or the more experienced Stidham at the helm of the offense in Week 1.
And now we have an update out of training camp, specifically joint practices with the Green Bay Packers this week, that further complicates the situation.
According to Broncos insider Benjamin Allbright, Wilson has been coming into his own with the Payton offense and has started to shine a bit. Allbright went as far as to say that Wilson had a good shot of taking the QB2 mantle by the time Week 1 rolls around.
Zach Wilson has really started to get comfortable in this offense over the last week or two.
Making a strong case for QB2.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) August 16, 2024
What does Zach Wilson as QB2 mean for Broncos plan with Bo Nix?
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this is that the Broncos depth chart is not set. In fact, it was just this week that Sean Payton iterated that Nix still has work to do before he’s named the starter in Denver. So is this report from Allbright about being the QB2 behind Nix or the previously presumed starter (and the preseason starter), Stidham?
In all likelihood, this would be Wilson as the primary backup for Nix, which does make some sense. Wilson was in an untenable situation with the Jets previously, one wherein he was thrown into the fire with unfair expectations and faltered. Furthermore, he was the most impressive quarterback in the Broncos’ preseason opener and could be showing signs of realizing more of his obvious talent at the pro level.
What’s interesting, however, is that Wilson’s track record in the regular season, even while weighing a bad situation in New York, is about as ugly as it gets. Stidham hasn’t wowed by any stretch of the imagination either but he does appear to at least be a surer bet for the Broncos to make simply based on the body of work up to this point. And with Nix being a rookie, putting the less certain option behind him is a dramatic shift to the offense’s plans should it ultimately happen.
However, if Wilson were to indeed take over as the primary backup behind Nix, that would give the Broncos at least one advantage in terms of building for the future. Stidham would immediately become an attractive trade candidate, especially when we’ve already seen guys like J.J. McCarthy go down with an injury in the preseason and/or training camp. Injuries happen and teams have to move to fill the voids. Denver could then take some advantage of that by recouping some draft capital, even if marginal in value.
All told, this is a fascinating wrinkle for the Broncos quarterback situation, one that could have several ripple effects for Nix’s rookie campaign and the future in Denver as well.
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