It took Bo Nix only two preseason games to convince head coach Sean Payton to entrust the rookie quarterback with the keys to the Denver Broncos offense to begin the regular season.
With Payton’s announcement that Nix will start at Seattle on Sept. 8, the odds of the former Oregon signal-caller winning Offensive Rookie of the Year honors continued to shorten.
Nix was offered at +1600 to win OROY by DraftKings before the 2024 NFL Draft. The Broncos then selected Nix with the 12th overall pick and inserted him into a quarterback battle against Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson.
Nix outperformed his veteran counterparts through the Broncos’ first two preseason games. After Denver won 27-2 against Green Bay last week, Nix’s OROY odds had shortened to +1100 at DraftKings and +1200 at BetMGM.
Payton officially named Nix his regular-season starter on Wednesday, and those odds shifted even further to +1000 and +900, respectively.
Nix is behind only Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (+135), Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (+475) and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (+650) at DraftKings.
BetMGM has the same four in order, with Williams (+130) followed by Daniels (+500), Harrison Jr. (+750) and Nix. The book told Field Level Media that Nix leads all rookies with 18.7 percent of the total bets and 19.9 percent of the money backing him to win the award.
It has been a steady rise for Nix, who was the sixth quarterback off the board despite going in the first dozen overall picks. However, he entered the NFL with vast experience as a 24-year-old who played three years at Auburn and two at Oregon.
With Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy (No. 10 overall) suffering a season-ending knee injury, the New England Patriots still gauging the readiness of No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye and Michael Penix (No. 8 overall) waiting in the wings behind Kirk Cousins in Atlanta, Williams, Daniels and Nix are the only quarterbacks expected to start Week 1.
Nix is getting thrown into the fire with his first starting assignment coming at Seattle, where Denver is currently a five-point underdog at DraftKings. In addition to the notoriously loud crowd at Lumen Field along with facing first-year Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald’s complex defensive scheme, Nix was 0-3 against the Washington Huskies while at Oregon.
The Broncos do have a somewhat favorable schedule to open the season. Following the trip to Seattle, they return for their home opener against Pittsburgh before traveling to the East Coast to face Tampa Bay and the New York Jets. Denver begins its AFC West slate with home games against the Las Vegas Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers in Weeks 5-6.
The Broncos are +500 longshots to make the playoffs at BetMGM, where their Over/Under win total of 5.5 was not impacted by Nix winning the starting quarterback job. However, the book did report that the Over has drawn 83 percent of all bets placed.
Nix will become the first rookie signal-caller to start a season opener for Denver since Hall of Famer John Elway in 1983.
“Obviously, that’s great to share with such a great player like John Elway, but definitely want to (go) out there and (do) whatever I can do ultimately for the team,” Nix said. “It doesn’t matter when your first start is. It doesn’t matter if you have to wait or you go right now. You just want to go out there and get the first win and ultimately compete at a high level and give your team the best chance possible.
“That’s what my goal is at the beginning, just to give our team the best chance to go out there and win games every week.”
–Field Level Media
