Bo Nix enters his third NFL season with an extremely solid baseline, having produced 25+ passing TDs and 350+ rushing yards in both of his professional campaigns. That consistency provides a high weekly floor, but it’s the potential for a third-year jump that makes him such an enticing target in fantasy drafts.
Should You Draft Bo Nix in Fantasy Football?
Nix’s ADP sits at 109.4 in PFN’s Free Fantasy Mock Draft Simulator, and his positional rank checks in at QB12, which is the consensus of me and my colleague Kyle Soppe. We have him projected at 16.09 fantasy points per game.
Quarterback is so tough this year because there are so many guys worth taking. If we look at what Nix did the past two seasons, his only two seasons in the NFL, it’s kind of criminal how low he’s going. He finished as the overall QB8 as a rookie and then the QB10 as a sophomore. We have two seasons both inside the top 10, yet he’s mostly being drafted outside the top 12 fantasy quarterbacks.
The reason is kind of simple. There are so many quarterbacks. The reality is that the nature of rankings and ADP is inherently linear. You can’t avoid that. Players go in a certain order, we rank them in a certain order, and Nix happens to fall below certain guys that we could easily put him ahead of. With the quarterbacks in the QB8 to 15 or 16 range, even going down to QB20, you can order them however you want and it will be fine.
Nix brings the perfect combination of passing and rushing for the modern fantasy game. He had 430 rushing yards as a rookie and then 356 last year. He has 9 rushing touchdowns across two seasons. That’s not Lamar Jackson- or Josh Allen-level rushing, but it’s good enough, and it certainly bolsters his floor.
Then we have the passing. This Sean Payton offense loves to throw the ball. Nix led the NFL in pass attempts last season. Volume is king. We love when that happens. Yes, I think Sean Payton may want to run the ball more, but he’s always going to do what the situation calls for.
While he does have three capable running backs in J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, and Jonah Coleman, none of them are really high-end talents. This offense works better when they throw to open up the run. We could see another heavy-volume passing attack from Nix this season.
The situation is better in that they added Jaylen Waddle. That is a weapon that Nix did not have last year, when he had Courtland Sutton as his WR1 and then Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant competing behind him for targets. I think Franklin and Bryant are nice players, but adding Waddle without really removing any sort of weapon is a huge upgrade for Nix, and it really raises his ceiling.
Nix is one of my favorite quarterbacks to target because in leagues where everyone’s waiting on quarterback, which I like to do, he typically is one of the last ones to go. I’ve gotten him in mock drafts sometimes in the 11th or 12th round. I absolutely love that. Nix is someone you should keep an eye on.
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Bo Nix’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
Analysis provided by PFN Analyst Kyle Soppe.
Last season, Nix had just 1 touchdown pass on 75 attempts against the rival Chiefs, but the Broncos won both games and will be looking to start 2026 with a bang.
His legs were on full display when these two teams squared off on Christmas Day (42 yards and a touchdown), and if he can sustain that level of threat on the ground, you’re going to be printing value all season given where he was going in drafts.
I’m bullish on the Nix profile by way of my optimism for Jaylen Waddle, and in terms of raw fantasy numbers in the opener, I think it’s worth noting that the Broncos couldn’t run the ball efficiently at all against the Chiefs last season (53 carries for 187 yards with a long of 15), something that could well be the case again on Monday, thus putting all of the heavy lifting on their Year 3 QB.
Will Sean Payton actually surrender the play-calling duties in a meaningful way this season? Will that mean less motion, more pace, and more responsibilities on their QB?
The data we get from this game will be awfully instructive for how this team views itself, and I very much think we see positive returns from this talented unit sooner than later.
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Where Nix Ranks Among 2026 Quarterbacks
- Caleb Williams | CHI
- Justin Herbert | LAC
- Jaxson Dart | NYG
- Trevor Lawrence | JAX
- Dak Prescott | DAL
- Bo Nix | DEN
- Patrick Mahomes II | KC
- Brock Purdy | SF
- Jordan Love | GB
- Matthew Stafford | LAR
- Kyler Murray | MIN
Want more? PFN’s 2026 PPR Rankings have 200+ players ranked.
