Bo Nix is the Broncos starting quarterback and now he’s a captain, too.
The Denver rookie is among six team captains voted on by the team Monday afternoon and announced Wednesday morning by head coach Sean Payton.
Nix, 24, is joined by right guard Quinn Meinerz, wide receiver Courtland Sutton, inside linebacker Alex Singleton, kicker Wil Lutz and cornerback Pat Surtain — the newly minted highest-paid defensive back in NFL history.
“It’s an honor, it’s a privilege. I’m excited to be with this group, excited to be a captain,” Nix told reporters after Wednesday’s practice. “I don’t take it lightly. I know it’s a big deal and it hasn’t happened often, but I’m not going to take it for granted. I’m just going to come to work every single day and just prove that you can be a captain. Excited to work with these other guys and I think it’s good that we can get out there and set the tone.”
Nix becomes the first Broncos rookie to be named a team captain since Floyd Little in 1967. He was named the team’s starting quarterback on Aug. 21 and throughout his first training camp he’s won the respect and trust of veteran teammates.
“It’s a first for me,” longtime NFL head coach Sean Payton said of having any rookie elected captain by his teammates.
“It’s unusual for a rookie to be named captain, and yet by nature that position, to some degree, is leading,” Payton added. “That’s something that, I think, organically takes place throughout the spring and training camp and it goes from there.”
Nix was selected No. 12 overall by Denver in April’s draft.
The five additional captains each have tenure and respect in the Broncos locker room. Sutton is among the longest-tenured players on the roster and is the team’s leading receiver entering the season. Singleton enters his third year with the club as the returning leading tackler and the communication hub in the middle of Vance Joseph’s defense. Lutz was reliable in his first year as Denver’s place kicker in 2023. Surtain and Meinerz are foundational pieces to the franchise who each arrived in the 2021 draft and each this offseason received top-of-the-market extensions from the Broncos, signaling the franchise’s intent to build around them well into the future.
Sutton is a captain for the fourth straight season and Payton said the receiver garnered the most votes of anybody on the roster.
“I wouldn’t say it’s only because of his experience,” Payton said. “I would say it’s because of his personality. It’s because of how he works. There’s so many other traits. Years in the league I don’t think necessarily equates to being a good captain. I think there’s more to it than that and that’s the way his teammates looked at it.”
Said Sutton: “It’s something that I treasure and something I hold dear to my heart. I appreciate the guys and they know they’re going to get my best every day when we come out here to practice, meetings, games, whatever it may be.”
The other five are captains for the first time. That fact in itself is representative of a major offseason overhaul. Three captains from the start of last year — safeties Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson and quarterback Russell Wilson — are no longer on the roster.
Stidham’s No. 2: The Broncos put out a game-week depth chart Wednesday and Jarrett Stidham is listed as the No. 2 quarterback behind Nix. Zach Wilson can still dress and serve as an emergency No. 3 without counting against the 46-man game-day roster but can only enter a game if both Nix and Stidham are hurt.
Also interesting on the depth chart: Practice squad fullback Mike Burton is listed as a starter and practice squad receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey is listed on the two-deep at receiver. Neither is a major surprise given they’ve been expected to be involved in Denver’s plan despite not making the initial 53-man roster.
A couple of other expected but notable developments: Luke Wattenberg is the starting center, Riley Moss is the starting corner opposite Surtain and Cody Barton is the starting inside linebacker next to Alex Singleton.
Clean bill of health. The Broncos had no players listed on their injury report Wednesday afternoon. Payton after practice said safety Brandon Jones, who did not play at all in the preseason due to a hamstring issue, was feeling good.
“His testing numbers and all the metrics relative to it are doing well,” Payton said.
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