After finishing with their best record since their Super Bowl 50 victory, the Denver Broncos are clearly on the rise. The team ended the 2024 season at 10-7, with rookie quarterback Bo Nix leading the way. Starting all 17 games, Nix threw for 3,775 yards and 29 touchdowns, showing impressive poise.
With Nix looking like the future face of the franchise, the Broncos have taken all the right steps through this offseason, and senior NFL analyst Field Yates believes the quarterback will only get better in his sophomore year.
NFL Analyst Explains Why Bo Nix-led Broncos Are a Team To Watch This Season
The Broncos’ offensive line, which ranked No. 1 in PFSN’s OL+ metric, was one of the driving forces behind their success in 2024. Very little was expected of the offense this season. Normally, when an offense outperforms expectations, it’s either the quarterback playing exceptionally well or the offensive line.
Nix certainly performed well, ranking inside the top 20 of our QB+ rankings this season, but this OL’s brilliant performances helped make life easier. Their pressure rate (28.3%) and sack (4.0%) numbers were excellent across the board, with Nix averaging the fifth-highest time to throw (3.03 seconds).
With all five starters of this offensive line returning for 2025, Yates believes there’s every reason to be optimistic about Nix and Denver.
“They’re high. Both showed some really good things on film this past season,” he said on NFL Live. “I thought his (Nix’s) downfield vertical passing was excellent in the second half of last year. But I don’t think we talk nearly enough about the Broncos’ offensive line, which, in a league that is covered so exhaustively, they were the number one NFL offensive line, not just run block win rate, but also pass block win rate, and by a lot.
“They have all five starters expected back this year for that offensive line. They reinvested in veteran left tackle Garett Bolles. To me, a lot of reasons to be optimistic about this Denver team, because a position that we always find ourselves talking about, where teams don’t have enough talent or enough depth in October, November and December, the Broncos are about as well-positioned as anybody in the entire league at that offensive line spot.”
One concerning area for the Broncos in 2024 was their run game, which ranked 28th in rushing touchdown percentage (25%), 24th in rushing touchdowns per game (0.7), and 20th in rush yards per attempt (4.2). This area was quickly addressed with the addition of RJ Harvey in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Broncos also added Evan Engram, a proven weapon who gives their offense some pop at the tight end position. Denver’s No. 1 defense from 2024 remains intact as well, and now enters the 2025 season as a complete football team.
