Denver Broncos Sean Payton Shares QB Competition Update

The 2024 offseason program for the Denver Broncos is going to be all about the quarterback position. Head coach Sean Payton and his staff have the least established quarterback depth chart in the NFL

After releasing veteran Russell Wilson earlier this offseason, the team was left with Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci. A few weeks into the offseason, the Broncos acquired Zach Wilson from the New York Jets. Another addition was made in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft when they selected Oregon quarterback Bo Nix.

DiNucci has since been released, making this a three-man competition. With the team’s first week of OTAs complete, Sean Payton took some time to offer an upgrade on how things are looking. Nix is someone everyone is keeping an eye on and the head coach said that he is playing well.

“Good, he’s farther along than most would be. We’re talking about a player who’s played 61 games [in college]. He’s extremely smart. He’s picked it up very quickly.”

Many people would presume that the starting quarterback job is Nix’s to lose. A first-round pick that fits the mold of what Sean Payton is looking for, he likely has a leg up on the competition.

Alas, every quarterback is going to have a chance to prove themselves. As Payton noted, everyone is getting equal reps at this point in the offseason. Each of them are working with the starters to get a feel for where everyone is at.

“We try to split up all the reps,” Payton said. “There’s going to be a time when you read into the reps, I don’t think it’s early in OTAs. It’s kind of the orphan group, they’re all orphan dogs. They’ve come from somewhere, but they’re doing good. It’s a good room.”

Payton also said: “We go by what we see. We try to get them as many reps as possible. We rotate. We’re rotating all of them right now. They’re all in a race to learn this system. Man, they’re doing well.”

This is foreign territory for Sean Payton, as his starting quarterback throughout his career has been known. A true competition was held only once previously with him as head coach; 2021 following Drew Brees’ retirement between Teddy Bridgewater and Taysom Hill.

It will be interesting to see how things shake out for the Broncos. For now, it sounds as if everyone is on equal footing and will have a chance to earn the job during workouts this offseason.