Denver Broncos Briefly: No. 1 in FOX Power Rankings, Bo Nix or Caleb Williams?

The Denver Broncos are No. 1 in FOX's power rankings. In fact, many power rankings think the Broncos will be one of the best NFL teams in 2026.

And in other weekly Denver Broncos news, Reddit wonders if Caleb Williams or Bo Nix is a better quarterback. Broncos Country may be surprised who fans picked.

And why is Jonah Coleman on TikTok asking for money?

The Broncos are No. 1 in post-schedule release power rankings per FOX Sports

The NFL schedule release has turned into a spectacle.

And apparently it's a good enough reason to tweak power rankings. Even with the Broncos playing five playoff teams in their first six games, Ralph Vacchiano moved Denver ahead of the LA Rams to No. 1 on his list.

From his article:

Super Bowl odds: +2000

Their first six games are just terrible. But assuming they survive that, there is a real soft middle of the schedule that could put them on a real run from Weeks 7 to 15. That should be enough for the class of the AFC, and a team that is motivated by the knowledge they should’ve been in the Super Bowl last year.

I fully agree with Vacchiano here. If the Broncos can go 3-3 versus that insanely tough first part of the schedule, they could potentially be looking at 10-4 when the final gauntlet of three tough teams—Buffalo on Christmas Day, at New England after New Years Day, and the Chargers to close out the regular season.

It's also possible Denver comes out really slow, but even if that's the case, I highly doubt they won't make the playoffs and surpass the 9.5 O/U win total that Vegas put them on.

As for other power rankings, ESPN has Denver at No. 3, so does The Ringer, and NFL.com does as well.

After taking the world by storm last year, the Broncos aren't going to surprise anyone this season. The reigning No. 1 team in the AFC will have a huge target on their back.

Denver's Offense Ranked No. 8 by Fox Sports

One way the Broncos can make the postseason for the third straight year is if their offense picks up the slack. Vacchiano (is he friends with Sean Payton?) thinks the Broncos supporting cast around Bo Nix is 8th-best.

He says:

They were on the verge of a Super Bowl last year with an offense that was good but not explosive. The addition of WR Jaylen Waddle changes all that. He and Courtland Sutton form an elite tandem, and Troy Franklin can be one of the better No. 3 receivers in the league. Quarterback Bo Nix is also supported by possibly the best offensive line in the league and a solid, grind-it-out rushing attack (though that part depends on the always-iffy health of J.K. Dobbins). 

Denver's defense has been elite the last two years and carried the offense to some victories.

But when it came to the playoffs last year, the Broncos 14th-ranked scoring offense lacked enough firepower to win it all. (That, and Bo Nix's devastating injury in the Divisional Round win.)

This year, they are basically running it back with the same squad plus Jaylen Waddle. Waddle's a massive upgrade in the wide receiver room that ESPN's Mike Clay had as the worst receiver group in the NFL in 2025.

Waddle will likely be the No. 1 guy ahead of Courtland Sutton, even if Sutton will continue to be the X receiver. Waddle adds explosiveness, YAC, and he's a great receiver over the middle, where Nix has struggled.

Denver gambled on J.K. Dobbins staying healthy, but the addition of Jonah Coleman in the fourth round gives the team a big backup in case Dobbins goes down.

On the offensive line, Denver's is No. 1 per Mike Clay's offseason rankings this year. Winning in the trenches is key to playing winning football. And Nix will need them to protect him well as he comes back from the ankle surgeries.

Tight end is Denver's biggest concern. Evan Engram better step up because Justin Joly will be chomping at the bit to get some snaps. Although, Payton is always slow to play rookies.

And finally, Nix has to be more consistent overall than he has been his first two years. He's progressing to become a top-15 quarterback, and his intermediate and deep passing certainly needs work. Can he get there? Yes. It would be great if he did this year.

Nik Bonitto Ranked No. 7 EDGE in NFL

More rankings, because this is the offseason after all.

Speaking of rising stars, Nik Bonitto is one.

Gregg Rosenthal ranked him No. 7 among all EDGEs in the NFL today, with miles Garrett taking the top spot.

Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal.bsky.social)

Abdul Carter is next up. A very fun projection of the best edge rushers with @ollieconnolly.bsky.social:

Bluesky SocialGregg Rosenthal

Ahead of Bonitto are Garrett, Will Anderson, Micah Parsons, Adam Hutchinson, Danielle Hunter, and Nick Bosa. It's tough to argue with the list, though I'd probably move him ahead of Bosa.

Bo Nix or Caleb Williams? NFLv2 Subreddit Weighs In

Which quarterback would you rather have on your team today, Bo Nix or Caleb Williams?

That was asked on Reddit last week, in r/NFLv2.

It's always interesting to me what fans of other teams think of Nix as well as what their perception is of the 2024 rookie class. That's because I always hear a lot from Broncos fans, and I'm one myself, and sometimes hearing outside opinions is a bit sobering.

Of course, fan discourse on Reddit is asinine most of the time, and real sobering facts usually come from analysts/writers/journalists.

What I see from the thread below is a lot of overhype for Williams, and some Broncos fans coming to the defense of Nix. In all honesty, both QBs are a bit overhyped for where they currently are in the NFL quarterback landscape, around 20th-best currently.

Looking at their stats, it's incredibly close. Williams has thrown a lot less interceptions, but also fewer touchdowns. Nix is a more accurate QB but he's a dink and dunk passer vs. Williams who throws it deep a ton. I don't count QB wins as a stat because it's a team stat, not a QB stat.

Overall, they're really close to one another in basically every category. It'll be interesting to see if either of them can take a significant step forward this year or the next two years.

Who do you think has the higher ceiling, and floor?

I'd probably say Nix has a higher floor but Williams a higher ceiling.

Jonah Coleman Begging for Money on TikTok?

The weirdest update in a Denver Broncos briefly is this one about rookie running back Jonah Coleman on TikTok asking for money as a streamer.

The post says he was on there for 7-plus hours, which IDK how to verify. I deleted TikTok in Dec. 2024 and I'm not going back on there. A lot of these streamers just loop their video and scam people out of money. I'm not saying that's what Coleman did here, but is it better or worse if he was actually on there for 7 hours?

Either way, it's a very weird thing for an NFL running back to be doing. Does he fancy himself an influencer?

I'm not sure what the NFL policy is on this, but one has to guess the league and the team aren't super stoked about it.

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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.