Broncos QB leader in the clubhouse says a lot about Bo Nix

In time, Bo Nix will be the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He has the talent to at least getting the opportunity to start games in the NFL, but he will get that opportunity mostly based on when and where he was drafted to. The Broncos absolutely stink! While Nix does provide a breath of fresh air, he still has to beat out incumbent Jarrett Stidham, as well as keep Zach Wilson behind him.

Mike Klis of 9NEWS offered some very interesting intel on the Broncos' developing quarterback situation. We all thought Nix was 100 percent going to be the guy. Guilty as charged. However, all signs point to Stidham being the best quarterback emerging out of Broncos mandatory minicamp, and it is not particularly close. Of course, Sean Payton is going to make it easier for Nix in the end.

As strange as it sounds, the Broncos might have a little quarterback battle on their hands, per Klis.

"Say this for Stidham: He hasn’t moped about becoming crowded with hotshot newcomers. He bowed his neck and competed. To almost all media observers, Stidham was the best of the three quarterbacks, with Nix also mostly promising, during the offseason practice sessions."

But even if Klis' eyes are telling him one thing, the optics are telling us another in that Nix will start.

"Truth is, Stidham is the incumbent starter. He was 1-1 in the Broncos’ final two games last season, throwing for nearly 500 combined yards with two touchdowns and an interception. That doesn’t mean Stidham will start Game 1 at Seattle on Sept. 8. It just means he remained the top performing QB through the Broncos’ offseason – again, by most media views, not necessarily from Payton, the only view that counts – which concluded Wednesday."

This is yet another reason why I cannot trust the Broncos under any circumstances. If they want Nix to be the guy, then make him the guy. Competition may bring out the best in everyone, but all of Stidham's offseason successes are doing is creating a ton of confusion surrounding a team that really doesn't need any. Wilson is merely a distraction, but they cannot let Stidham even become one.

All I know is the final chapter of Payton's coaching career will be defined by Nix's success or failure.

Jarrett Stidham being the leader in the clubhouse is a problem for Bo Nix

What I don't like about this at all it is runs counter to what General Norman Schwarzkopf used to preach. He was a big proponent of let's fail fast so we can find the right solution quicker. By having a capable stop-gap quarterback in-house like Stidham, the Broncos are inadvertently creating doubt internally that Nix may not be the guy after all. He is not going to bust, but he has a low ceiling already.

If it were a quarterback room of merely Nix and Wilson, I might be able to get behind that a little more. We will see pretty quickly if Nix is the guy or not. If he is, well, then great! If not, well, the Broncos will be an even sadder bag of crap. The latter helps them get in a position to draft Carson Beck out of Georgia or Quinn Ewers out of Texas next spring. This is why reaching on Nix was so very strange.

In a perfect world, Nix would have gone to a team like the Los Angeles Rams where he would learn how to be a champion from someone like Matthew Stafford. Give it a year or so, and Nix would be starting games in Sean McVay's incredibly quarteback-friendly offense. What Payton plans to run in Denver may be quarterback-friendly, but the team he leads and Nix plays for is so devoid of talent.

Nix may very well beat out Stidham for the starting job Week 1, but for now, we have doubt seeping in.