Like all NFL teams, the Denver Broncos' locker room has its own hierarchies. As is usually the case, the battle-tested veterans tend to take their time warming up to untested rookies. Any young rookie entering such an environment has to be true to himself and do his job before he happens to gain respect and, then, acceptance.
When the Broncos selected their now-starting quarterback Bo Nix at No. 12 overall back in April, they were banking that his personality could fit right in. Earlier this week, Broncos right tackle Mike McGlinchey confirmed that Nix has already ingratiated himself with his veteran teammates.
"I think he's been great. Bo is a great dude," McGlinchey said on Thursday after practice. "He's a great guy to hang out with [and] a great guy to have a conversationwith. I think he's fit in unbelievablywell, and he's come in and been authentically himself. I think that's all you can ask for from him."
By avoiding the pitfalls of a bloated ego that often accompanies a first-round pick, Nix has won friends and admirers because he's come over as a bonafide individual from day one.
That being said, winning the starting job against some stiff competition had to be about much more; this wasn't a popularitycontest Sean Payton was running.
"For us, he doesn't have to be somebody that he's not just because he's the quarterback of an NFL franchise," McGlinchey continued on Nix. "He's a homegrown dude that really likes playing football and reallylikes being a teammate. That's definitelyshown through to the rest of us in the way that we appreciate his work so far."
McGlinchey has seen from his rookie leader the kind of poise and command of a veteran, so to say the former San Francisco star is onboard with what Nix can bring to the Broncos is somewhat of an understatement.
"I don't know if it's a specific example, but certainly the rapid improvement has been super impressive to me," McGlinchey said of how Nix has turned his head. "From OTAs when he first got here in May to where he's at now, he's a different football player. It's a great sense of who he is as a pro and who he is as a competitor to learn that fast and put himself in a position to lead our football team. Everybody is excited for him to do that."
Of course, Nix has only taken his first step on the perilous NFL ladder to success — it's a long and winding road to navigate from here on in. What's extremely encouraging is just how well-rounded Nix is as a person and teammate, attributes that will position him to ascend further.
"There have been so many examples of him showing composure and his collection in the huddle," McGlinchey said. "His ability to stay calm no matter the situation out there. He was the same on the practice field as he was in the two games that we lined up so far. That speaks to his composure as much as anything. The moment isn't too big for him. He's ready for it, and he's ready to go attack it."
The organization's sheer levels of confidence in Nix have reached the point where Payton felt comfortable enough to part company with a veteran security blanket like wide receiver Tim Patrick. When the dust settled on final roster cuts, many observers drew the same obvious conclusion that the franchise is now immersed in an unbridled youth movement.
Given the reality of the $53 million dead-money hit to the salary cap the Broncos decided to take in the chin this season to mop up the catastrophic Russell Wilson oil spill, you could say they're only cooking with the ingredients they can afford. The truth is if the Broncos locker room believed that the Broncos were starting from the bargain bin, confidence would be pretty low, but that's simply not the case.
McGlinchey sounds quite excited and indeed hopeful that the injection of ambitious youth can even turn out to be an advantage.
"I think the youth thing is actually an advantage," McGlinchey said. "You have a lot of guys that are young and don't really know what success or failure feels like. They just know how to do their job, and they do it fast, and for real and as hard as they can. The bliss of not knowing where we could be, or the expectations put [on] the shoulders because of whatever the outside perception is, I think is an advantage to us. I think it just allows you to play free. It allows you to play competitively, and I think there are a lot of guys in this building with a lot of talent who haven't necessarily gotten a shot to prove that to the rest of the world yet. It's awesome to have them overlook us because it's going to be a lot of fun when we prove them wrong."
The Broncos are hoping that it turns out to be a classic case of young talentmeeting opportunity.
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