Broncos HC Sean Payton Sounds Off on Knee-Jerk Reactions to First Depth Chart

Sean Payton is pumping the brakes on the panic over Bo Nix being listed as QB3 on Denver's first depth chart.

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and rookie quarterback Bo Nix. / Ben Swanson/Denver Broncos

Much to the chagrin of many fans monitoring the Denver Broncos' ongoing quarterback competition, the first unofficial depth chart — released Tuesday morning — revealed rookie Bo Nix at the bottom of the barrel. The first-round quarterback, in whom the hopes of the fanbase rest almost squarely — is listed as the No. 3 guy.

The anxiety is understandable, but drilling down just a little deeper, we see that every Broncos rookie was listed on the third team, irrespective of draft pedigree. As we learned later on from head coach Sean Payton, there was very little thought put into the depth chart, as he confessed that he's "not ready" for one, but the NFL mandated Denver to produce one with preseason Game 1 coming up this weekend.

Payton laughed off the notion that there's anything to be read into Tuesday's depth chart, joking that all the rookies are listed perfunctorily on the third team so that he could save time and not have to spend "40 minutes" going over media strategies with Denver's chief communications officer and de facto public relations czar Patrick Smyth.

“Just because it’s easy and then I don’t have to send 40 minutes with Patrick," Payton said with a grin. "I can spend five. (Laughs)."

Many a-truths are said in jest. What Payton's saying is the truth. Make no mistake; this depth chart is not an absolute reflection of where things stand with the various position battles still ongoing across the roster.

Now, there are a few spots where a player's standing on the depth chart did have some reason or rhyme, especially at center, where Luke Wattenberg was listed as the sole No. 1 guy.

“That’s right. He’s listed alone," Payton said of Wattenberg. "We have good competition there. We could have put ‘or.' I look at that and we get the list together. It’s due today by 2 p.m. The word there is ‘unofficial.'”

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When pressed further on the symbolism of the first depth chart, unofficial though it may be, Payton made it clear that he wasn't trying to send any messages to the locker room on Tuesday.

“No. I’m not ready for a depth chart, but I have to get a depth chart," Payton said. "It’s easy to push the underlined players [rookies] to the back of the line and then make sure it’s kind of where we sit right now. That’s really it. No, it’s a good question but I’m not trying to send messages at all.”

The truth is that Nix has very much narrowed the margins between he and incumbent Jarrett Stidham, who's listed as QB1. Zach Wilson, based on rep share and overall momentum, became almost a non-factor outside of being a camp arm, until he had good Monday practice. And yet, the third-year veteran is listed as QB2.

The bottom line is this, Broncos Country: this first depth chart is simply a matter of course for Payton. The preseason starts on Sunday for the Broncos, with a trip to take on the Indianapolis Colts.

“You want to see your team be efficient and be smart. You want to hit on the things that you’ve been working on relative to scheme and what we’re doing," Payton said on the subject of quarterback expectations this weekend. "It’s the first preseason game. The focus obviously will be more internally driven. We’ll get on at some point this week—Friday, we’ll turn the page to Indianapolis. So we’re still in this training camp [mode]. We’re not working on the Colts right now. We’re working just on us, and later in the week we’ll flip the script. Ultimately you want to see clean execution. You want to see the fundamentals we’ve been coaching and then carried over to the field.”

If Nix wants to make complete his ascension before the regular season starts, he'll have to further separate from Stidham in these August games. The former Oregon star has been as advertised thus far, and he's even exceeded expectations.

So, if the best predictor of the future is the past, then Broncos Country can rest assured that Nix is very much on the right path.

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