The Bo Nix trait that P.J. Locke says separates him from other rookie quarterbacks

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Bo Nix is beginning to stack days at Denver Broncos training camp. In the process, he’s catch his teammates attention.

But it wasn’t the perfect completion percentage during Thursday’s practice that stood out. It was a far more advanced aspect of the rookie’s game that caught P.J. Locke‘s eye.

“Right now, man, what I notice from Bo is he’s a good look-off guy,” Locke said about the rookie quarterback. “He’s really good looking off.”

When a quarterback looks off a defense, it means he uses his eyes to deceive the defense as to where he is going to go with the ball. It’s not uncommon for rookies in the NFL to stare down the receiver they are going to throw the ball to before actually making the pass.

However, when a quarterback does that, it alerts the defense, primarily the players in coverage, as to where the pass will likely go. That gives extra time for defensive players, especially the safeties, to get in better position to impact the pass.

A quarterback can combat that by looking the defense off, meaning looking to a receiver they aren’t going to throw to first, before quickly adjusting and throwing to their actual target. By looking left before throwing right, the defense moves left and, ideally, that opens up the right side for the quarterback’s intended receiver.

“He’ll look you off real quick,” the veteran safety said, praising Nix after Thursday’s practice. “I think he studies the safeties. He can tell — We’re super instinctive. We try to play games with him so he’s trying to play games back. That’s what I’ve noticed, for real.”

This isn’t a new phenomenon with Nix either. Locke noticed it right when the rookie arrived in Denver this spring.

“Even in OTAs, I was like, ‘Man, I just cannot get a beat off of him,'” Locke added. “Most times, rookie quarterbacks, their first read, they’re going to look at it.”

Not Nix.

In the second week of training camp, Nix and Jarrett Stidham have split time with the first-team offense, as Sean Payton admitted after Thursday’s practice. During that time, Nix has become more comfortable in the pocket as he’s steadily improved.

“He can throw the pill,” Locke said with confidence. “He can throw it.”

Through eight practices of training camp, Nix is beginning to settle in and prove why the Broncos used a first-round pick on him. And his teammates are noticing too.