The Denver Broncos allowed QB Bo Nix to play two offensive drives and he delivered with a beautiful touchdown to RJ Harvey as well as a nice connection with Jaylen Waddle against the Green Bay Packers.
The Denver Broncos may not have won in Bo Nix’s preseason debut this past weekend but seeing him out there and playing well was great to see.
Nix completed six of nine passes for 76 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos in two drives, connecting with running back RJ Harvey for a 21-yard touchdown and new addition receiver Jaylen Waddle for 35 yards.
Denver trading for Waddle was one of the biggest storylines of the National Football League offseason, as the Broncos seemed like they were missing just one more offensive playmaker. The offense was fine in 2025, but the unit was stagnant at times and had to prevail late in games more times than not.
The running game took a hit when J.K. Dobbins went down in Week 10, thus making Nix throw the ball more often, and he threw the ball more than any other quarterback in football.
Nix attempted 612 passes, completing 388 (63.4 percent) of them for 3,931 yards, 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The second-year QB struggled with fluid footwork, which prompted head coach Sean Payton to call out his “happy feet.”
It appears that the issue is behind Nix, as he looked extremely comfortable in his first action since fracturing his ankle in January.
“It felt great,” Nix claimed after working with new play-caller Davis Webb for the first time in a game, courtesy of Associated Press. “Just like any typical year, going out for the first drive, there's going to be some different things that you can grow from. But I felt like for the first drive of the season it was solid.
“I think the strongest emotion was when I got out there it was just like riding a bike; nothing really changed.”
This game was Nix’s first real chance to test out his ankle, and it went well. There were no guarantees that Nix was going to get some reps during a preseason game, so it seems as though the Oregon product convinced coach Payton to let him get some run.
Seeing his connection with Waddle, which wasn’t as easy to develop considering both missed time during training camp, was reassuring that Waddle will be a difference-maker.
“It’s coming along,” Waddle said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. But it was a good time. It’s good to get back out there with all the guys.”
Waddle will draw attention away from fellow receiver Courtland Sutton, who is very talented in his own right, opening up more passing lanes for Nix and the offense.
The 27-year-old opened his career with three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons with the Miami Dolphins before that offense took a step back in 2024 and 2025. Waddle will be a nice target over the middle of the field for Nix.
