Everyone in the Mile High City seems desperate to break their post-Manning QB curse. Since Peyton Manning decided to hang up his cleats, there has been a long list of failed replacements. Well, talking about failure, the Broncos fans would like to forget Russell Wilson’s tenure as their starting QB. Having left the Broncos after a disastrous campaign, Russ will be taking a whopping $85 million in dead money for the next two seasons.

To cover up this expensive investment, the Broncos have thrown their hat by choosing Bo Nix as their 12th overall draft pick. Speaking about this change on Colorado Sports Night, an NFL Analyst, Darren McKee, pointed out Bo Nix’s potential impact from his attitude. “You know, you could tell it wasn’t a great day when he was not in a great mood, and it’s salty, Bo Nix. And I don’t have a problem with that. OK, there is a certain arrogance, confidence and cockiness that comes with a starting QB,” McKee stated. 

Bo Nix is joining the Broncos with high hopes and is on the older side of a rookie contract. Being 24, Nix is coming back off a Heisman trophy finalist nomination, having excelled in his two seasons playing for the Oregon Ducks. Throughout his time in college, Nix started a whopping 65 games with 1,936 passing yards, 85 TDs, and 26 interceptions to his name. Although Nix has joined with a strong reputation his time at the Broncos could be way better than Russell Wilson’s tenure.

As McKee continued by mentioning, “It’s like everything is sunshine & gold & rainbows & puppy dogs & unicorn crap that we heard for Russell Wilson just isn’t the real world, So I’d rather have a QB with his plan in the real world even if he is a tad salty than a phony baloney.” Seems like Mckee has ripped on to Wilson’s tenure at the Mile High City by calling it ‘phony baloney.’ Well, Mckee could be right in his thought.

Wilson, at times, used to prioritize his social media presence over his NFL career. From constantly posting things to his overly positive remarks, his attitude might have rubbed off his teammates the wrong way. Meanwhile, his body language while speaking with the media wasn’t authentic either. Thus, Bo Nix’s mindset could be the missing piece from Sean Payton’s offense next season. However, it remains to be seen whether Bo Nix can live up to his potential. Or will it be yet another Russell Wilson in the making?

Going back to Russell Wilson’s time at the Broncos

When Russell arrived at the Mile High City in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks. He expressed his excitement, saying, “This is a gift for me. I’m so grateful to be around such amazing people. My goal is to play 10 or 12 more years and hopefully win three or four more Super Bowls. That’s the plan. That’s the mindset.” Well, we all know how it turned out as the nine-time Pro Bowler was released from the Broncos after a disastrous two-season playing with them.

On his arrival, fans thought Russell would be able to lead them to their first Super Bowl since 2015. However, they came nowhere close to the playoffs, as Wilson finished his first season with 5-12. Those poor performances led to then-HC Nathaniel Hackett getting sacked with two games remaining. Meanwhile, Russell put up just 60.5% of his passes for 3,524 yards while getting sacked a league-high 55 times. Although the Broncos did go ahead and bring in Sean Payton, their results didn’t improve.

With the Broncos failing to make the playoffs yet again, Russ was benched for the last two games of the season. Jarrett Stidham took his place as Wilson ended his second season with 26 touchdown passes and eight interceptions. Russ has since signed a one-year contract worth $1.21 million with the Steelers. While having hope, he can still turn around his floundering career.