Broncos QB Bo Nix must earn the starting position

Denver Broncos Training camp kicks off this week and the biggest news of training camp is, of course, the quarterback competition. The Broncos parted ways with Russell Wilson, retained Jarrett Stidham, traded for Zach Wilson and drafted Bo Nix with the 12th overall pick.

Although it remains to be seen who will get the starting position, there is hope: Nix will become the permanent captain.

The question is whether the Broncos should just go all out and make Nix the starter or let things play out in training camp. While there is a strong argument for the rookie to open the season as QB1, that doesn’t mean he should should is now called the starter.

The main reason teams shouldn’t automatically designate a rookie as a starter on the first day of training camp is simple: You want the rookie to realize he has to earn the job.

Whether it’s having the rookie compete for the starting position or competing for the backup position behind an established starter, the best thing for any rookie, regardless of how he was drafted, is to make it clear that he has to earn his spot. That way, you better ensure that his draft status doesn’t go to his head.

There’s a good case to be made that Paxton Lynch let his draft status go to his head, even as the Broncos made him a backup while Mark Sanchez and Trevor Siemian battled for the starting job. While there was no guarantee Lynch would have performed well if he had been thrown into a competition, at least he got the message that he didn’t deserve anything just because he was a first-round pick.

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It’s easy to point the finger at Drew Lock and how he fared, but two factors affected him as a rookie. First, his thumb injury, and second, the uncertainty of whether then-head coach Vic Fangio thought he was the guy.

With Nix, it’s not hard to figure out that he’s Sean Payton’s guy. But Payton still has to make sure that Nix earns the job. Payton’s approach to Nix simply has to be this: “I believe you can be the guy, but it’s up to you to show me.”

Nix should get a chance to take snaps with the first team no matter what, including starting a preseason game. But Broncos fans shouldn’t worry about keeping track of how many snaps he gets with the first team. What they should be keeping track of is how his game is progressing.

It is possible to make good analysis of a player’s progress even if he doesn’t always get first-team snaps. You want the player to have the opportunity to get them when he’s showing he’s the guy, but you can still learn a lot from every snap.

If Nix shows in the second preseason game that he should be the starter, the Broncos will have to bite the bullet. But by showing that, he’ll earn the starting job.

To Nix’s credit, he’s said all the right things and shown potential. But as we get closer to the start of the regular season, the attention will increase. How Nix handles that and how he develops during training camp and the preseason will tell us more about whether he deserves that starting position.

Again, it’s fine to name him the starter for Week 1 of the regular season if he proves he deserves it. But the important thing is that he proves himself — and the best way to make him do that is to make it clear that he has to earn that start in Week 1.