No one should expect a rookie quarterback to show up to OTAs for the first time and blow everyone’s mind. Being thrown into a new system, with new coaches and players they have no relationship with, is an equation that doesn’t add up to immediate success.
That being said, it’s still funny to see reports about rookie quarterbacks struggling, and that level of enjoyment gets amplified when it’s a quarterback under the ‘Quarterback Whisperer’ Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos.
Broncos quarterback battle is a little tighter than Sean Payton probably hoped it would be
OTA scorecards are the best. There’s nothing quite like taking a player who is entirely new to the NFL and grading how they perform against veterans who play their same position.
Yes, they have technically done this job before, but it was an entirely different environment with different stakes.
I would say that Day 1 of OTAs looked like day 1 of OTAs.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) May 23, 2024
Wilson threw a pick. Nix was behind receivers. Jarrett Stidwater probably "won the day" if anyone was keeping an OTA scorecard.
By the looks of it, Zach Wilson had a predictably bad day at work and Bo Nix is having issues getting used to the speed of things. The best part of that tweet is the part that pertains to Jarrett Stidham.
Stidham won that QB battle with the level of confidence that only the word “probably” can fully encapsulate. When you “probably” beat the guy who threw an interception and the guy who was throwing behind receivers (read: throwing interceptable balls) it doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence.
Also, Ben Allbright misspelled Jarrett Stidham’s last name (by a lot), which is very funny. That’s not a knock on Allbright by any means, it’s more of an indictment on Stidham. Allbright could’ve gone back and edited the tweet, but he made the conscious decision to effectively say, ‘his last name can be spelled right when he earns it.’
Broncos don't have many options at quarterback
If you wanted to expand this whole situation to a larger view, it’s that there are only a limited number of reps in OTAs. The Broncos drafted Nix 12th overall in the 2024 draft. That tells us that they have faith that he can be an upper-cruster when it comes to QB talent in the NFL.
Given that the other quarterbacks on their roster are Wilson and Stidham, drafting Nix that high means they are looking for him to be the starter in Week 1. If that’s the case, he’ll need all of the reps with the starters he can get, but if he’s struggling, that will bring everyone down.
Do you want to waste your pass catchers' time and limited reps with Nix, a quarterback who’s having a hard time getting them the ball? Do you want to use Stidham, a quarterback with a limited ceiling to make the reps useful to more players on the field? Do you want to use Wilson, a guy?
Sean Payton has some tough choices to make early on in the offseason, but luckily for him, anything is better than having to deal with Russell Wilson for another year.