Healthy Bo Nix Means A Rise Into Top-10 Quarterbacks For Fantasy Football
Fantasy

Healthy Bo Nix Means A Rise Into Top-10 Quarterbacks For Fantasy Football

Ian Hartitz examines QB Bo Nix's healthy return from ankle surgery to lead the Denver Broncos in 2026 and be a top fantasy football quarterback.

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When Sean Payton went to the lectern and announced that Bo Nix had suffered an injury that would knock hinm out of the rest of the playoffs, all the air left the Denver Broncos' balloon. Not being able to move the ball in a snowstorm the next week certainly didn't help, which set up Nix as one of the most important narratives to follow this offseason. Will he be healthy and continue his rise among fantasy football circles? Ian Hartitz breaks it down as part of his Denver Broncos Team Preview.

Is the football community as a whole disrespecting Bo Nix?

Bo Nix's season ended with a broken ankle that kept him from competing in the team's AFC Championship loss to the Patriots. Of course, he made plenty of big plays beforehand to help get the squad there in the first place, namely taking the lead with under a minute left in regulation against the Bills in the Divisional Round thanks to a b-e-a-utiful dot to Marvin Mims.

Here's the thing with Nix: It's still tough to find a passing efficiency metric that paints him as anything more than an average-to-below-average quarterback. Have there been flashes of elite play? Absolutely. His performance against the Packers last December featured one gorgeous dime after another and showcased some of his underrated improvisational skillz.

But still. We see Nix more so surrounded by QBs we hope can consistently string together high-level play in the future, not so much the ones who have already been doing so.

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Look, Nix is still just 26 years old, and adding someone like Waddle could bring out new heights. The man has been excellent at avoiding sacks (11.6% pressure-to-sack rate is the second-lowest in the league since 2024), and brings a lot of value as a rusher (175-786-9 these last two seasons). Only Caleb Williams posted a faster ballcarrier speed among QBs in 2025!

It's just at least a little bit concerning that we have to jump through a few hoops to paint a promising picture—Nix joins Jacoby Brissett, Joe Flacco, Bryce Young and Cam Ward as the only QBs averaging 6.5 or fewer yards per attempt during the past two seasons (min. 500 pass attempts). The fact he's had a relatively average target depth (7.3, 20th among 32 QBs) doesn't help matters.

Good news for fantasy investors: Nix has racked up the position's fifth-most fantasy points from rushing during the past two seasons, helping him post QB8 and QB11 fantasy finishes despite (to this point) meh efficiency through the air. The main question is whether Nix will still have this additional tool in his belt after returning from his fourth (!) career ankle/foot surgery. Good news: This concern is seemingly the main reason why Nix is available at an affordable QB14 (pick 103.3) price tag—I'm a big fan of waiting at QB in re-draft land this year thanks to the potential for someone like Nix to still be available in the late rounds, and if not? There are plenty of solid secondary options like Jared Goff, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Tyler Shough and Malik Willis.

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. Bo Nix
    BoNixQ
    QBDENDEN
    PPG
    18.2
    Proj
    294.3
  2. Jarrett Stidham
    JarrettStidham
    QBDENDEN
    PPG
    4.3
    Proj
    13.6

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