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QB Scoreboard: Bo Nix provides an impressive performance on Day 7 of Denver Broncos Training Camp

July 31, 2024

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos‘ quarterbacks put on a show on Wednesday, but it was some bad news that stole the show.

Offensive lineman Quinn Bailey broke his ankle about halfway through practice, which put a hault to the final round of individual and group drills before team drills began.

Wednesday was the Broncos’ seventh practice of camp and their third practice in full pads.

The Broncos will practice without pads on Thursday. They’ll put the pads back on for Friday’s practice. Head coach Sean Payton hasn’t decided whether the team will wear pads for Saturday’s practice. Then the team will have its second off day of camp on Sunday.

QB Scoreboard

Bo Nix was back with the starters on Wednesday after Jarrett Stidham got the nod on Tuesday.

The rotation changed this week, skipping Zach Wilson. If Wilson works with the starters on Thursday, we’ll be back on track with the tweaked rotation.

If Wilson isn’t with the starters, it could be a sign he’s trailing significantly behind the other two quarterbacks.

Here’s what happened on Day 7.

Bo Nix: B

The Broncos’ rookie cooked on Wednesday.

His first throw, to Marvin Mims, was a good ball up high on the sideline, but linebacker Alex Singleton was able to rip the ball away and force an incompletion.

Then Nix hit Josh Reynolds on a dig. Pat Surtain II was in coverage and forced a tight window, but the rookie hit the window and set up a gain of at least a dozen yards.

Nix made another great throw to Reynolds, this time with Ja’Quan McMillian in coverage. Reynolds put the ball up high on the sideline, and Reynolds brought it in for another dozen yards.

Nix found a bunch of short completions to Greg Dulcich, Michael Burton, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, and Samaje Perine. He lost points because a couple of those were short of the sticks on third downs.

In the final period, Nix converted a 3rd & 11 to Courtland Sutton on a hole shot about 25 yards downfield. He had the chance to convert two other third downs to Sutton and Brandon Johnson on posts, but both balls were off target. Devon Key provided solid coverage on both.

The slow finish, primarily the low third-down percentage, tanked Nix’s grade, but it was still one of his best performances in camp.

Jarrett Stidham: B-

Unlike Nix, Stidham’s third-down production gave him a big bump.

He gained six yards on a slot out to Troy Franklin on 3rd & 5, seven yards on a curl to Michael Bandy on 3rd & 6, and converted a 3rd & 11 to Phillip Dorsett in the middle of the field.

Outside of finding Humphrey for a 20-yard gain, Stidham had an unsexy day. But, as has been the case throughout camp, you can’t argue with the efficiency.

Zach Wilson: C

I struggled with this grade because Wilson hardly let the ball touch the ground.

But Wilson has taken the most sacks of any Broncos quarterback, and it’s tough not to blame him for some of them.

One in particular stands out: when he ran out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage instead of throwing the ball away. You just can’t have that.

Wilson made two very good throws.

The first was on a 3rd & 7, when he lobbed a back shoulder ball up the sideline. Reynolds outjumped Levi Wallace and picked up 15-20 yards.

The other was a slant to Bandy that converted a 3rd & 5. The window was tight—maybe too tight to responsibly test—but Wilson made the throw so it was a positive play.

GPAs
Average of daily grades.

Jarrett Stidham: 2.67 (B-)
Bo Nix: 2.06 (C)
Zach Wilson: 1.91 (C)

Quinn Bailey breaks his ankle

The big news on Wednesday was Bailey’s broken ankle.

The Broncos held their second round of nine-on-sevens, a running drill that pits the offensive linemen, tight ends and running backs against the defense’s front seven.

Wednesday’s version of the drill was sloppier than Tuesday’s. Linemen were falling to the ground on every other rep. A handful of reps in, a lineman fell on Bailey’s leg, breaking his ankle.

“It’s always tough to see and to be a part of when you’re at a practice,” Payton said. “It’s one of the bitter realities of our game. He was having a really good camp.”

Bailey was the Broncos’ sixth offensive lineman last year, which meant that he subbed into the game whenever the Broncos had a jumbo package. Payton said that his staff decided earlier this week that he would “easily” hold that role for 2024.

Bailey can play guard and tackle, and he competed to be the first off the bench at both spots.

With Bailey out of the picture for the foreseeable future, the competition for backup offensive line jobs became murkier.

One-on-ones

While the big boys played nine-on-sevens, the wide receivers and cornerbacks played one-on-ones. My attention was split between the two fields, so I don’t have all of the details.

Here’s what happened…

Surtain was a monster. On the first play of the drill, he broke up a curl to Sutton. Then he lined up across from Tim Patrick and broke up a pass to him, too. Patrick had previously beaten McMillian on an out route. Sutton caught a back-shoulder ball when covered by Riley Moss.
Mims made a great concentration catch through Damarri Mathis‘ arms deep down the sideline. Jalen Virgil beat Mathis with a slant.
Reynolds made a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch deep downfield past Wallace.
Brandon Johnson beat Tremon Smith inside, but Stidham missed the throw.
Franklin beat Art Green on a sharp comeback route. Then Devaughn Vele beat Quinton Newsome on the exact same play.

Josh Reynolds arrives

You might have noticed in the notes above that Josh Reynolds was the catalyst for the Broncos’ offense on Wednesday.

He beat Pat Surtain. He beat Levi Wallace. He beat Ja’Quan McMillian.

That’s the trifecta.

Reynolds had been quiet in camp up to this point. That’s no big deal, but he hasn’t looked like a superstar addition. All of a sudden, the vision of Reynolds being one of the most productive playmakers has returned.

When asked about Bo Nix, Sean Payton immediately pivoted.

“Look, the guy that jumped out was Josh Reynolds,” he said. “He had three or four catches that were something else.”

Payton mentioned Reynolds’ range, toughness and smarts.

“He is long, and he’s smart,” Payton said. “There’s some versatility. I see him as an outside-in player, more outside than in. His length, you saw it. His catch radius is just bigger.”

For more on Reynolds’ big day, click here.

Samaje Perine protects

Pass protection is an underrated part of playing running back, but it’s important.

To nobody’s surprise, Perine has been the best pass-protecting halfback so far in Broncos camp.

On Wednesday, Perine showed up twice.

The first came on Stidham’s 20-yard completion to Humphrey. The tackle was battling an edge rusher, and Perine provided a little bump on his way out of the backfield that squared his blocker up. The chip was a minuscule move, but it might have been the difference between Stidham having enough time to make the throw and not.

The other came on Wilson’s slant to Bandy. Perine plugged up an oncoming rusher and would have kept the quarterback off the dirt in a game situation.

The Broncos’ backfield logjam puts Perine on a sketchy footing. Replacing his third-down versatility would be difficult, though.

In theory, Jaleel McLaughlin would be next up as the Broncos’ third-down back, and his explosiveness would be an upgrade over Perine’s.

But so far in camp, McLaughlin has struggled in protection; he’s given up two sacks in three days in pads, and one was a doozy.

If you put McLaughlin in the backfield in shotgun and the defense shows a blitz, can you trust him to stick in the pocket and protect? I don’t think so.

The other option is to keep a tight end in to protect. But on third down, you want Dulcich on the field, and he struggles as a blocker, too.

“There are certain things, Greg, we’re going to ask him to do in the run game, and then there are certain things we’re not going to ask him to do,” Payton said.

The same should apply in the passing game. If McLaughlin and Dulcich are both on the field on a third down, it would be malpractice for a defensive coordinator not to blitz them.

Javonte Williams has grown into a solid protector, and he’s held his own in camp, but if he is your primary running back, would asking him to stay on the field on third downs be too big of a workload?

And what if he gets hurt? In a pinch, fullback Michael Burton is very solid as a blocker, but he isn’t as dynamic as Perine.

Perine’s blend of blocking and receiving ability makes him a valuable piece of a third-down attack. Leaving him off the team seems like a way to hamstring a young quarterback.

Zach Allen is feasting on Ben Powers

Now that we’ve seen a few padded practices, I’m ready to call this a trend: Ben Powers can’t stop Zach Allen.

Allen has been the defensive star of camp to this point, and he deserves credit. While his counting stats last year were in line with his typical marks, the underlying stats improved. His pressure rate, in particular, stood out. If Allen had more help last year, he might have had vastly improved counting stats. Plus, Allen is only 26, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he leveled up this offseason.

Hopefully, Allen is ready for his first Pro Bowl season.

But the training camp success has come at the expense of Powers, and we have to acknowledge the fact that we could be seeing poor performances from the Broncos’ left guard as much as we’re seeing a leveled-up Allen.

Allen’s most dominant win on Wednesday came when he blew past Powers and would’ve blown up Nix on his ball to Reynolds over McMillian’s head.

It’s worth remembering that Powers had a slow start to camp last year, too. He’s also working with a new center, which means he may not be getting help that he’s expecting, or there are miscommunications when the defensive linemen play games. The trenches are complicated.

I’m more encouraged by Allen than I am discouraged by Powers, but that gap narrowed again on Wednesday.

Notes

John Franklin-Myers missed his second consecutive practice due to a death in his family.
Nik Bonitto returned to practice after missing Tuesday because of a back issue.
Garett Bolles is rotating out for some reps, as he did last year. Payton: “Nothing of significance.”
Dulcich is back on the field after working with coaches to change his running gait this offseason. “Right now, I feel great. I’m doing well out there. Again, I’m glad to be back.”
DJ Jones is in the final year of his contract. He isn’t thinking about it this time. “I’ve done that before, and it’s backfired on me, so I learned my lesson. I won’t be thinking about contracts.”
Malcolm Roach had a sack. Ronnie Perkins had two sacks. Elijah Garcia swatted a Stidham pass after pushing Alex Forsyth back a couple of steps.
Alex Singleton and Baron Browning had tackles for loss against McLaughlin. Browning’s came after the running back’s bad decision to bounce outside, which resulted in a five-yard loss.
McMillian had a five-yard tackle for loss on a Tyler Badie run. Badie previously had a very good run behind blocks from Calvin Throckmorton and Trey Jacobs.
Art Green had a loud pass breakup against Humphrey on a poorly-placed ball from Stidham.
Undrafted rookie tackle Frank Crum struggled on Wednesday. I had him giving up at least two sacks to Thomas Incoom and one to Jaylon Allen, along with another pressure. There might have been a third sack for Incoom. Crum also had a false start.
Riley Dixon dropped a punt at the five-yard line. Brandon Johnson downed it at the one-yard line. Trenton Gill, the other punter vying for the job, had a similar punt last time the Broncos worked on pinning opponents deep. I don’t know what the Broncos are trying to do with every kick in practice, but I’ve got the competition very even.