Broncos OTA Takeaways: Bo Nix and the quarterbacks look ready to go

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Week 1 of organized team activities (OTAs) is in the books, and reporters were invited to watch Thursday’s practice.

The Denver Broncos held 2-1/2 hours of individual drills, seven-on-sevens and full-team drills, but didn’t work out in pads. Thursday was the finale of three practices this week, and they’ll hold three more practices in each of the next two weeks. The spring schedule will wrap up with mandatory mini-camp June 11-13.

“I thought, overall, the week went well,” head coach Sean Payton said.

Here’s what went down…

The quarterbacks are sharp

The Broncos are rotating their quarterbacks during OTAs. Jarrett Stidham got the first-team reps on Day 1 on Tuesday. Zach Wilson took the start on Wednesday. Bo Nix got his turn on Thursday.

“They come from different systems,” Payton said. “One is coming from college. One is coming from two or three NFL systems, and the other is coming from one system. They’re all in a race to learn this system. I would say—you guys watched the practice—they’re doing well.”

For the most part, Denver’s quarterbacks had a good day. The ball rarely hit the ground. They found the open man quickly and hit him.

The biggest mistake of the day came from Wilson.

Tight end Nate Adkins was sitting a few yards upfield on the boundary with position on his defender. Wilson didn’t see rookie safety Omar Brown out of Nebraska, who jumped in front of the pass for the only interception of the day.

Thanks to that play and a scramble in a seven-on-seven passing drill, Wilson earned the lowest marks among the Broncos’ quarterbacks. Other than those two plays, he was just as clinical as the Broncos’ other two quarterbacks.

The best throw of the day came from Nix. Wide receiver Tim Patrick charged up the sideline but faced good coverage. Nix threw a perfect back-shoulder ball that Patrick reeled in on his way to the ground. His feet were in bounds, but there was a dispute about whether his backside touched down out of bounds before he caught the ball. From about five yards away, I thought it was a catch.

Nix wasn’t perfect. He missed on a couple of balls when throwing routes against air. A couple more passes were a half-step behind his crossing receiver, but they were caught anyway.

You could make a strong case for either Nix or Stidham having the best day. Stidham didn’t have the handful of off-target throws Nix did, but his checkdown-to-impressive-throw ratio wasn’t as good as Nix’s.

With that said, Stidham hit Troy Franklin in stride over his shoulder on a deep post near the end of practice, which may have been the play of the day.

The Broncos won’t decide their starter based on one week of practice—and we’ve only seen one day of that week—but if they were keeping a scorecard, I’d guess Nix and Stidham are neck-and-neck with Wilson a step behind.

A few vets are missing

Three Broncos weren’t in attendance for the voluntary practice on Thursday.

Wide receiver Courtland Sutton still hasn’t appeared at any voluntary workouts because of a contract dispute.

“There isn’t any concern,” Payton said. “Here’s why: I know Courtland. He’s a tremendous worker. You guys know him. [He has] a tremendous makeup, leader of our team. That will sort itself out.”

Defensive end John Franklin-Myers wasn’t in attendance, but he is expected to be in town for future voluntary workouts.

Defensive lineman DJ Jones was the only surprise among the absences, but Mike Klis of 9News reported that he was in town for previous practices.

While Greg Dulcich was in attendance, he didn’t participate in practice.

“His rehab has gone well,” Payton said. “It’s not going to be we don’t see him until training camp.”

Payton also provided an update on linebacker Drew Sanders, who tore his Achilles in April.

“Surgery was done,” he said. “We’ll have a prognosis. Fortunately, it was an early enough timeline we’ll bring him back. I don’t want to say October, but the good news is the surgery was done, it was clean.”

Lucas Krull shines

The star of the day was Broncos tight end Lucas Krull.

On Thursday, Krull made a handful of catches, and he made them in every part of the field. He used his length at 6-foot-6. He used his 4.54 speed. He excelled in traffic.

He had a chance to put an exclamation point on the day with a deep crosser from Bo Nix that he couldn’t quite pull in on the sideline.

During practice, Payton spoke with Krull.

“I said, ‘If you didn’t notice, everyone in the media was looking down at their rosters to see who [No.] 85 was,’ he told reporters. “I said, ‘Someday soon, they’re going to know who 85 is.’ He’s looking sharp.”

The 25-year-old joined the Broncos’ practice squad before last season and saw action in about half of Denver’s games, beginning in the middle of the season. He finished with nine catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.

Lucas Krull was the star of OTAs today.

Here’s every catch from Krull’s first season with the Broncos 👇 pic.twitter.com/4GyYBoEimV

— DNVR Broncos (@DNVR_Broncos) May 24, 2024

Position battles

The quarterback competition is the headliner, but the Broncos have plenty of jobs up for grabs.

After practice, Payton mentioned “heavy competition” in three places: running back, wide receiver and in the secondary.

Payton likes what he’s seen from his receivers.

“If you study it closely,” Payton said, “It’s big across the board, and it has speed.”

In the secondary, a handful of players could come away with starting jobs. Pat Surtain II and Ja’Quan McMillian figure to hold down the CB1 and nickel jobs, but the other starting cornerback spot is up for grabs.

Levi Wallace, Damarri Mathis and Riley Moss figure to be the favorites for that job. Rookie Kris Abrams-Draine could compete, too.

But the play of the day from the Broncos’ cornerbacks was provided by Art Green.

The second-year defender out of Houston trailed wide receiver David Sills V tightly across the field on a crossing route, then lept and snuck an arm in front of the receiver to break up a well-thrown ball.

It’s too early to say Green has a chance at the starting job, but there’s plenty to like from the toolsy youngster.

The defensive line wins

When the Broncos’ passing offense broke down, pressure was typically part of the story.

The obvious caveat is that nobody is in pads, so the game changes. Still, the defensive line clearly outplayed the offensive line.

Nik Bonitto led the way with some great rushes around the edge. Two of them were against Garett Bolles and flushed the quarterback from the pocket.