Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix did many things well as a rookie starting in the NFL, but throwing when pressured was not one of them. Through data that I scrubbed from a bluesky post which was pulled data from PFF (from behind their paywall) that was reposted from fball\_insights.com.
This has data for 36 QBs, but some definitions are needed to make sense of this. First this is ONLY dropbacks during which the QB was pressured. The rate at which QBs were pressured in 2024 can be found here:
In the first table, here are some definitions for you.
* TTT = time to throw when pressured
* SELF = % of time that the QB caused his own pressure
* SCRM = % of time that QB scrambled when pressured
* SACK = if I have to explain this to you, you should stop reading now
* BTT = big time throw % when pressured
* TWP = turnover-worthy play % when pressured
* EPA/DB = expected points added per dropback when pressured
* PFF GRD = PFF grade when pressured (of debatable value)
* Now here are Bo Nix rankings in each according to the table from football insights
* TTT - tied for 12th
* SELF - **36th of 36**
* SCRM - 12th
* BTT - 28th
* TWP - tied for 7th
* EPA/DB - tied for 25th
* PFF GRD - tied for 18th
The negatives are pretty obvious, Bo appears to have created a lot of pressure for himself and to avoid making TO-worthy throws he also avoided trying to make big time throws when pressures. This also explains why Jayden Daniels got more accolades than Bo last season. Daniels was one of the best in the league AS A ROOKIE, when pressured. When you are in the same category as Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and Josh Allen and better than Patrick Mahomes in your first NFL season - YIKES!.
The positive is that Bo has obvious things upon which to improve in his second year. I distinctly remember a play against the Ravens last season in the red zone where Bo ran out of bounds (self-sack) instead of throwing the ball away. Hopefully that will not happen this season. Additionally as the game continues to slow down for him, he will become more comfortable trying to make the big time throws when he is pressured. This also explains why Javonte Williams got so much playing time last season, since Sean Payton knew he needed to have his best pass pro RB in the game to help keep pressure away from Bo.
NAME
QBP
Time To Throw (s)
SELF-Caused Pressure
SCRM
SACK
Big Time Throw %
TO-Worthy Play %
EPA/DB
PFF GRD
Lamar Jackson
232
4.2
18.8%
14.7%
11.2%
6.6%
2.8%
\-0.10
84.8
Joe Burrow
248
3.5
12.4%
6.0%
19.4%
8.9%
3.6%
\-0.29
79.5
Jayden Daniels
259
3.9
13.7%
23.6%
19.7%
7.1%
2.9%
\-0.26
75.4
Josh Allen
211
3.9
21.0%
14.7%
9.0%
11.0%
5.5%
\-0.08
71.3
Derek Carr
94
3.1
5.1%
2.1%
8.5%
7.8%
4.0%
\-0.11
71.1
Sam Darnold
263
3.7
10.8%
7.6%
21.7%
6.7%
0.8%
\-0.42
67.6
Baker Mayfield
168
3.8
16.6%
17.3%
24.4%
6.7%
4.9%
\-0.19
66.6
Patrick Mahomes
254
3.8
23.1%
9.8%
18.5%
5.7%
3.7%
\-0.35
65.6
Bryce Young
172
3.8
16.3%
14.5%
16.9%
8.9%
2.6%
\-0.33
64.9
Geno Smith
251
3.4
8.0%
4.4%
19.9%
5.2%
4.7%
\-0.47
64.0
Justin Herbert
209
3.4
8.5%
8.6%
21.5%
7.3%
4.7%
\-0.48
63.9
Brock Purdy
200
3.8
19.9%
16.0%
15.5%
5.2%
3.7%
\-0.25
60.9
C.J. Stroud
274
3.7
12.1%
8.8%
23.0%
6.5%
3.1%
\-0.38
58.3
Jordan Love
172
3.5
12.3%
4.7%
9.3%
2.4%
4.1%
\-0.34
55.8
Aaron Rodgers
178
3.5
13.8%
4.5%
22.5%
4.1%
2.5%
\-0.28
55.7
Caleb Williams
241
4.2
18.7%
12.0%
28.2%
4.7%
2.6%
\-0.50
53.4
Russell Wilson
160
3.6
22.4%
7.5%
23.1%
6.8%
3.0%
\-0.58
53.1
Trevor Lawrence
90
3.2
13.2%
8.9%
20.0%
4.5%
5.4%
\-0.40
52.6
Bo Nix
194
3.7
24.2%
10.8%
13.4%
3.2%
2.9%
\-0.50
52.6
Drake Maye
158
3.6
14.3%
17.1%
21.5%
2.6%
4.5%
\-0.53
51.9
Tua Tagovailoa
100
3.1
9.8%
3.0%
21.0%
1.2%
7.5%
\-0.28
51.8
Jared Goff
208
3.2
7.1%
4.3%
15.9%
3.4%
4.6%
\-0.28
51.5
Deshaun Watson
118
3.8
15.1%
9.3%
28.0%
7.2%
3.0%
\-0.59
51.2
Justin Fields
79
3.7
23.1%
16.5%
20.3%
3.4%
4.4%
\-0.35
51.1
Dak Prescott
98
3.3
11.9%
3.1%
21.4%
5.6%
5.1%
\-0.51
50.5
Kyler Murray
180
3.8
16.4%
13.9%
16.7%
4.3%
6.5%
\-0.38
50.1
Kirk Cousins
156
2.9
4.7%
1.9%
17.3%
3.7%
8.3%
\-0.41
47.7
Anthony Richardson
115
3.6
14.8%
8.7%
12.2%
5.0%
7.1%
\-0.46
43.6
Jalen Hurts
223
4.1
19.9%
14.3%
22.9%
5.3%
5.5%
\-0.44
40.4
Daniel Jones
145
3.4
17.2%
6.9%
20.0%
2.7%
3.8%
\-0.58
37.3
Will Levis
135
3.2
14.0%
7.4%
30.4%
4.1%
5.3%
\-0.64
34.8
Joe Flacco
78
3.2
7.1%
2.6%
23.1%
0.0%
6.9%
\-0.63
34.3
Jameis Winston
103
3.5
12.8%
4.9%
23.3%
3.7%
8.0%
\-0.45
32.8
Matthew Stafford
200
3.0
5.8%
1.0%
17.5%
2.8%
6.5%
\-0.51
32.8
[](/denver-broncos-stats/154898/can-your-qb-handle-pressure#comments)
See More: