​The Sporting News originally released a piece about Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos, noting that ESPN’s QB rankings place Nix among the “others receiving votes” alongside C.J. Stroud and Daniel Jones. The article also invites readers to add The Sporting News as a preferred source by clicking a link labeled here. The Broncos came surprisingly close to reaching the Super Bowl this past season, and many believe they would have had a shot at a Super Bowl matchup with the Seattle Seahawks if Nix had not sustained an injury late in the AFC Divisional Round. That injury forced him to miss the big game, effectively dashing the team’s hopes of a deep playoff run. For the 2026 season, optimism remains high with Nix leading the offense, especially now that Jaylen Waddle has joined the Broncos.
However, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN shared the results of a poll conducted among NFL coaches, executives, and scouts that ranked the top-10 quarterbacks in the league. In this poll, Nix was not in the top tier, but he did receive votes in the “others receiving votes” category, alongside Daniel Jones and C.J. Stroud. Fowler’s tweet stated, “Also receiving votes: Bo Nix, Daniel Jones, C.J. Stroud.” These three quarterbacks gathered top-10 votes, but not enough to secure a place within the official top-10 list as presented by the poll’s respondents.
Following the ranking of the top-10 quarterbacks—which included names such as Caleb Williams, Jared Goff, and Drake Maye—NFL coaches, executives, and scouts offered blurbs highlighting several players as “honorable mentions.” Sam Darnold, Jayden Daniels, Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence, and Jalen Hurts each drew extra attention in this portion of the polling.
This means that Nix appeared in the same breath as Stroud and Jones—two quarterbacks who had contrasting seasons, one showing promise but also facing a playoff-season setback, the other enduring a disappointing postseason—within the poll. If one were to judge Nix based on the order in which quarterbacks were mentioned in the article, he might appear as the 18th-ranked signal-caller in the NFL, a placement that likely underrates his true potential.
In the previous season, Nix threw for 3,931 passing yards, recording 25 touchdowns while completing 63.4 percent of his attempts. He finished with a 14-3 record and just 11 interceptions on 612 attempts, the most pass attempts in the NFL for that year. In the playoffs, Nix threw for 279 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in the single game he played against the Buffalo Bills before a late injury took him out of the AFC Championship. That absence arguably influenced the perception of his ranking in the poll.
While Nix did land top-10 votes, the lack of broader mention from Fowler’s article underscores a broader trend of underrating Nix among the Executive and Coaching community polled for the ranking. As the Broncos head into 2026, with Waddle in the fold and Nix at the helm, there could be an even brighter outlook on his production and impact, regardless of where he lands in this particular poll. The sports media landscape continues to weigh his performance, injuries, and postseason moments, so the narrative around Nix’s ranking remains a topic of ongoing discussion among fans and analysts alike.