ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Every job comes with first-day jitters, complete with uncertainty, a few sighs and deep breaths from the bottom of the rib cage. All in an attempt to relax.
And then there is a first game as an NFL rookie quarterback. That's what Bo Nix has on deck, as he will start behind center for the Denver Broncos against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Lumen Field ( 4:05 p.m. ET, CBS ).
"My first start? Four picks," former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer said. "I threw the wrong hot routes, and you learn in about 10 seconds, some days in the NFL you're going to do it all right and people are going to heap praise on you, and other days you're not going to be able to do s---.
"But I look at Bo Nix, and he has football knowledge coming in now it took me years in the league to get. These guys are on whiteboards now with gurus and coaches in high school. He's so much more ready than I was, or than a lot of guys were."
The No. 12 pick of the 2024 draft, Nix will be the first rookie quarterback to start a season opener in Sean Payton's 17 seasons as a head coach and the first rookie QB to start a Broncos opener since Hall of Famer John Elway in 1983.
The first few starts are almost always difficult, as even those who go on to Hall of Fame gold jackets experience early struggles. Elway went 1-of-8 for 14 yards passing, four sacks, an intentional grounding penalty and an interception before he was pulled from his opening day start against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the '83 opener.
"[It's] not how I saw that going back then, but this league is about getting up and pushing through. I just found that out right away," Elway has said when referencing his debut.
Payton, who opens his second season in Denver, has consistently sung Nix's praises since the Broncos made him the sixth quarterback selected in the first round. Nix was officially announced as the winner of a quarterback competition against Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson on Aug. 21.
But Nix won't get the easiest introduction to NFL regular-season play. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald is a noted defensive strategist who designed a Ravens defense that had the NFL's fewest points allowed per game (16.5) and most defensive expected points added (112.8) in 2023. His defenses play with an aggressive, creative tilt, willing to take risks and try things.
"I've learned a lot about Mike Macdonald from when we were both in the Big Ten," said Mike Sanford, a longtime college coach who helped develop Jordan Love at Utah State and was offensive coordinator at Minnesota in 2021 when Macdonald was the defensive coordinator at Michigan.
"He goes out and studies people, and his roots are with some of the most creative blitzers -- Jim Johnson, Chuck Pagano, Dean Pees. He just has a crazy catalog of ways to mess with the eyes of the quarterback, and I'm sure he's thinking 'How can I make Bo Nix's first day as an NFL starter one of the most difficult ones of his football life?'"
Nix performed well in his two preseason appearances. Against mostly Colts and Packers reserves, Nix went 23-of-30 passing for 205 yards, two touchdown passes and no interceptions without taking a sack. The Broncos scored on six of the seven possessions Nix played. That body of work -- Payton particularly cited Nix's sack avoidance, saying that "sacks were a big problem" in 2023 with Russell Wilson at quarterback -- allowed the rookie to win the job .
Nix is an uncommon rookie, given he played 61 college games over five seasons at Auburn and Oregon. The COVID-19 pandemic and the extra season of eligibility have pushed the "games played" totals to previously unheard levels. There was a time when Philip Rivers' 51 career starts at NC State put him atop the list for FBS players.
The 24-year-old Nix's maturity has been touted by Broncos coaches and teammates from the moment he arrived as the team's highest-drafted quarterback since Jay Cutler was selected at No. 11 in 2006. And Nix is the kind of X's and O's grinder that Payton wants at quarterback.
But Macdonald's well-known creativity will test that maturity immediately. And waiting in Week 2 will be Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, with decades of defensive success and a unit led by edge rusher T.J. Watt , the NFL's sack leader in two of the past three seasons. Two road games follow against defensive-trained head coaches in the Buccaneers' Todd Bowles and the Jets' Robert Saleh.
"I'm excited," Nix said. "... [Seattle] has a lot of good players with a new scheme ... going to be a hostile environment, but it will be fun, it will be a good first game ... it's about keeping it simple, it's about going out there and doing your job."
Payton has said he is ready and willing to "tailor" his scheme and week-to-week plans to aid in Nix's introduction to what Broncos general manager George Paton has called "the hardest job in professional sports."
"It's difficult to play that position," Payton said. "I've said this before, it's certainly tough if you're having trouble defensively or if you're having trouble running the football. ... You get a young player like Bo Nix, there are certain skill sets he has -- strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully we build on the strengths and then really minimize the things maybe that a young player might face to open up the start of the season."
Nix said he will have a large group of family and friends, including an uncle (Rusty Nix, the brother of his dad, former Auburn quarterback Patrick Nix) who hasn't missed a season-opening game since Bo Nix started playing organized football.
"That's the exciting part, a lot of these close friends and family have been there from Day 1 and they want to see the journey," Nix said. "... And it's the stuff like that you respect, and it's the fun part of playing, the memories and part of the journey, but you only get your first game one time, you want to go out there and make the most of it."
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