NFL analyst should be rethinking words following Bo Nix's Week 11 performance

3 hours ago 1

The Denver Broncos don't need to worry about who their quarterback is going to be anymore. Bo Nix is going to be that guy for a long time.

The Broncos, who have been searching for an answer at quarterback since the retirement of Peyton Manning following their win in Super Bowl 50, have finally gotten that monkey off of their back. The signs were already pointing in that direction but after Nix went 28-of-33 for 307 yards and four touchdowns on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, it was emphatically stamped.

That conversation is over, but a new one should be starting. Could Nix win the Offensive Rookie of the Year?

That award was given to Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels about a month into this season. That was understandable because Daniels was playing at an unbelievable level. But it is a long season and it's difficult to keep up that level of play. Things are starting to settle down in Washington and some of those who crowned Daniels should probably start to walk those takes back.

One in particular stuck out to me.

Adam Beasley over at Pro Football Network recently handed out some midseason awards, with Daniels taking the OROY home. He chose a quote from the movie "Kingpin" and a character from that movie, Ernie McCracken (played by Bill Murray) to describe what kind of hold Daniels had on that award.

From Beasley:

"And it already has a signature moment in his young career, connecting with Noah Brown on the last play of regulation to deliver a miracle victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 8.

Daniels isn’t just the frontrunner to win end-of-year OROY. In the words of Ernie McCracken, to lose the award he’d need to “get drunk, fall down, and hurt [himself]” to even have a chance of losing."

Now, no disrespect to Beasley, because many people would have agreed with that statement when it was made. But it's no longer true. In fact, it's not even close to true.

Daniels is still having a great season, but considering the way Nix has played this season, particularly his performance on Sunday against Atlanta, has made it a very real discussion.

Offensive Rookie of the Year race

Player	Completion %	Passing Yards	TD	INT	QB Rating	Rushing Yards	Team Win-Loss Record
Jayden Daniels	68.7	2,338	10	3	99.6	482	7-4
Bo Nix	65.5	2,275	14	6	89.3	295	6-5

Both players also have four rushing touchdowns. So as you can see, it's nowhere near a runaway race and if things keep trending in the direction that they have been, Nix could easily win the award.

If he did, he would become just the third player in team history to win the award, joining Mike Anderson in 2000 and Clinton Portis in 2002.

Daniels is having a remarkable season but if you feel that way, you have to include Nix in that conversation as well. Nix is playing more like a polished veteran than a first-year player and his team has benefitted immensely from that.

So let's not get ahead of ourselves and carve Daniels' name into that trophy just yet. It's a two-horse race now.