Bo Nix requires Sean Payton to “empty” the Broncos playbook | Mike Sanford’s Coach’s Corner
The unfortunate yet inevitable clock is ticking on Denver’s prized rookie.
In my former life as a college football coach, there was a saying: “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Two weeks into the latest dreadful Broncos start, that could not be more apropos to Sean Payton’s quest to transform rookie quarterback Bo Nix into his next Drew Brees.
Nix is not Brees. Brees was born in 1979; Nix in 2000. Brees was a pocket-based gunslinger at Purdue; Nix was a highly recruited, 5-star, dual-threat quarterback at Auburn and Oregon.
Nix played in a vastly different collection of college offenses than Brees, and their skill sets are wildly different. Brees would admit Nix can do things athletically that Brees could not do. Brees also arrived as an NFL quarterback in an era where top rookies had the luxury of time to develop. That’s no more. Bryce Young was drafted No. 1 overall. He was benched Monday two games into his second season in Carolina.
The unfortunate yet inevitable clock is ticking on Denver’s prized rookie.
Fortunately for Bo and Broncos Country, Sunday’s home opener showed the potential for a better path forward for Bo than Bryce. Bo must do a whole lot less of learning Sean. Sean, meanwhile, must lean into learning Bo.
After a too-familiar sight for Broncos fans watching their offense fail to reach midfield for a quarter and a half, Payton found something. With 7:04 left in the second, Payton pulled out a page of his encyclopedia-sized playbook that just happened to be the majority of Bo’s playbook at Oregon: the empty formation.
On first-and-10, Nix lined up comfortably in an empty formation and ripped a 4-yard “stick” route to Lil’Jordan Humphrey. The play call? Payton’s famous “Stick Lucy.”
The innermost wide receiver to the three-man side runs a stick route while the innermost receiver to the two-man side runs a choice route. The objective is to spread the Steelers defense, making them defend 53 yards laterally, while simplifying the picture for the quarterback.
Nix looked comfortable and confident on the remainder of that drive, which saw five snaps in the empty formation. His 13-yard run up the middle and his 22-yard strike to Josh Reynolds? You guessed it. Both came from Nix operating out of empty.
In Nix’s post-game press conference, I asked the 24-year-old quarterback about his comfort in empty. He lit up like a night game at Autzen Stadium.
“I thought that was one of our best plays. We got into empty and were able to evaluate what they were doing,” Nix said. “They were playing base to our personnel and had guys up on the ball more than (defensive backs). So we felt like we could space it out and get something going. Several of our key conversions for first downs came out of empty.”
In 2022, I had the unfortunate task of studying Nix in preparation of Oregon’s visit to Folsom Field. The Oregon offense directed by Nix in both 2022 and 2023 had an eye-opening amount of snaps that either started in empty or motioned the running back to an empty formation.
The challenge of preparing my Buffs’ defense for that week was that Nix would use the running-back motion to get a pre-snap indicator of “man” or “zone” coverage, while also making it difficult to disguise blitz looks.
Fortunately for Nix and unfortunately for my employment status, Nix shredded my defense with 20-for-24 passing for 274 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-10 victory for his Ducks.
It did not surprise me Bo came to life at the sight and sound of the empty set. The best way to predict future events is to evaluate past events. Bo knows empty. Bo needs more empty.
It is well-documented I have my doubts about Nix as the Broncos’ starting quarterback in, say, 2030. However, it is imperative Payton gives his rookie quarterback every chance to be successful. He knows that. And Nix has proven in two games he’s a weapon in the quarterback-driven running game. Let him tote it, coach.
Bo is a savant in the run-pass-option game. Let him read it, coach.
Bo has proven he is confident operating out of empty. Let him see the picture, coach.
Broncos Country doesn’t care how much Payton knows. They want to know how much he cares for his prized pupil.
