Denver Broncos Briefly: Bo Nix No. 59, Jaylen Waddle on PFF Top WRs
Bo Nix is the 59th-best player in the NFL according to his fellow players, but CBS Sports calls him overrated. Waddle and Sutton are top-25 receivers.
Bo Nix is No. 59 on the NFL Top 100. He's moving up and into rarified air, Broncos Country.
He's not the only one gaining national attention though. Both Jaylen Waddle and Courtland Sutton are in PFF's Top-32 list of receivers.
And RJ Harvey has been studying film of Christian McCaffrey as well as Jahmyr Gibbs.
That, and more in this week's Denver Broncos, briefly.
Bo Nix Comes in at No. 59 by Players; Called Overrated QB per CBS Sports
Bo Nix is better than Lamar Jackson.
That's what the NFL Top 100, voted on by current NFL players, says.
Lamar Jackson came in at No. 69, while Bo Nix was voted as the 59th-best player in the NFL in 2026.
From the piece:
No quarterback attempted more passes in 2025 than Nix , who led Denver to the AFC's top seed and a second straight playoff berth in his second year in the pros. The gamer led the Broncos on a league-high seven game-winning drives last season and piloted them to a thrilling Divisional Round victory over Buffalo, throwing three TDs, including one in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, Nix injured his ankle setting up Denver's game-winning field goal in overtime and missed the AFC title game. But before the setback, the former first-round pick did enough in his 18 games played to merit a second ranking within the top 65 in as many NFL seasons.
Since the NFL Top 100 is still being unveiled painstakingly slow, we don't know where Nix ranks among all the quarterbacks as there will be a lot of them in the top 50 spots.
But he was ranked No. 18 by NFL executives and coaches, which was the exact same ranking I gave him.
Rich Kurtzman
Bo Nix is one of the most-overrated QBs per CBS Sports
Yeah, the NFL players think he's a Top-60 guy, but someone from CBS Sports says Nix is overrated.
CBS Sports' Garrett Podell calls Nix among the most overrated quarterbacks in the NFL today, naming him alongside Caleb Williams and Baker Mayfield. Ironically, many other national analysts think Williams is much better than Nix, while Mayfield has been named as a possible ceiling for the Broncos QB.
From the piece calling him overrated:
"Bo Nix is an incredibly unique quarterback," Podell said. "He led the NFL with 612 passing attempts in 2025, but he failed to crack 4,000 yards passing, thanks to an average of 6.4 yards per attempt that ranked 28th among 33 qualified quarterbacks.
The young quarterback's lumps directly led to Denver struggling to consistently drive the football down the field. Three of the top four teams with the most punts in the 2025 regular season -- the Browns (93), Titans (78) and Raiders (74) -- missed the playoffs and fired their respective head coaches. The fourth team in that group is Nix's Broncos, with 75 punts. He benefits from a strong offensive line and a strong defense.
Add in the ankle injury, and it will be interesting to see what happens next in his career."
That last line isn't fair or realistic. This injury isn't going to change the trajectory of Nix's career.
Yes, it's a massive Year 3 for him. The expectations are going to ramp up of him because he has a lot of experience under his belt, in Sean Payton's offense, which has the No. 1 offensive line and now a top-10 receiving corps thanks to adding Jaylen Waddle.
But that has little to do with his ankle injury.
Rich Kurtzman
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Jaylen Waddle, Courtland Sutton Among PFF's Best
Ol' Nixy boy will have a new No. 1 receiver this year in Jaylen Waddle.
That doesn't mean Sutton won't be instrumental in this offense, but it does mean some of the pressure will be off of him and should led him thrive.
Pro Football Focus put out their Top 32 receivers list recently and both Waddle and Sutton were on it.
Waddle checks in at No. 15:
"After five seasons with the Dolphins, Waddle was traded to the Broncos, giving Denver some much-needed speed at wide receiver. Despite inconsistent quarterback play from Tua Tagovailoa, Waddle earned a 90.6 career PFF receiving grade with the Dolphins. His 5,039 receiving yards since entering the league in 2021 rank 10th in the NFL, although he has fallen short of 1,000 receiving yards in each of the past two seasons."
Waddle is going to transform the Broncos offense this year. He's going to give Nix a player that can consistently catch over the middle of the field, turn short and medium catches into longer gains, and is a true vertical threat.
As mentioned before, he's going to help Sutton get open, too.
Sutton is PFF's 25th-best player:
"Sutton turned in his second consecutive 1,000-yard season while earning at least a 74.0 PFF receiving grade for the third straight year. Since the start of the 2023 season, Sutton ranks sixth among wide receivers in receiving touchdowns (25) and second in contested catches (49). Jaylen Waddle's presence should give Sutton even more opportunities against single coverage in 2026."
Something I learned while listening to Mina Kimes podcast—which should've been apparent by watching the Broncos play—is most all of Nix's deep throws are outside of the boundary and one-on-one. That's because they're much less risky than deep shots down the middle of the field.
More often than not, Sutton is the recipient of those deep balls outside. Waddle's going to help him get open even more often. But I also expect him to catch a variety of routes this year, too.
The last time Denver had two 1,000-yard receivers was in 2016, a decade ago. That was Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.
Could Sutton and Waddle accomplish that feat this year?
Oh and speaking of Sutton, he was No. 68 on the NFL's Top 100.
Jonathon Cooper Arraignment Date Set
Cooper, who went from hero to zero in one week, has an arraignment date set for Aug. 31.
According to Mike Klis of 9News, that means this could legal process could drag on for months into the season.
That means he may not miss much of the season, or potentially any at all.
The league could still suspend him for 6 games, but it's unlikely they will before the legal process plays out.
Cooper is a valuable member of the Broncos defense. But what he allegedly did to his girlfriend—lifting her in the air by her throat and pinning her against a wall before dropping her, then violating a protection order a week later—is abhorent and the Broncos should move on from him.
Instead, it looks like they're going to pretend everything's fine and let him stay on the team.
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Rich Kurtzman was born and raised in Denver Colorado and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the aughts. He's been a professional writer since 2011, covering Colorado State football and men's basketball, as well as the Denver Broncos, for many outlets. Current Denver Broncos work can be found on Mile High Sports. Previous credits include CBS Denver and The USA TODAY Sports Media Group.
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