ENGLEWOOD – Bo Nix has had a lot of games to remember since he became a starting high school quarterback as an eighth grader in Alabama in 2014. The game on Sept. 8, 2024, hardly was one of them.

Making his NFL debut in the season opener for the Broncos, Nix in a 26-20 loss at Seattle completed 26 of 42 passes for just 138 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions and his 47.5 passer rating turned out to be his lowest as a rookie.

“Even after that game, he always stayed level-headed, he never road the highs and lows’’ said Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II. “He stayed consistent in his craft.”

Flash forward and what a difference a year has made. Heading into Sunday’s opener against Tennessee at Empower Field at Mile High, Nix has been called “a franchise quarterback” by general manager George Paton. Head coach Sean Payton has projected he will be a top five NFL quarterback within two years.

“I feel much better,’’ Nix said after a practice Wednesday at Broncos Park about how much he has grown in the year since his debut. “Just a year makes a lot of a difference. I feel like I’m much more comfortable and in a better spot.”

Nix after last year’s opener steadily improved. He got his first NFL win in Week 3 at Tampa Bay, throwing for 216 yards in a resounding 26-7 victory.

Nix threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-6 win over Atlanta in Week 11. And while it is true Kansas City didn’t play starters, he threw for a career-high 321 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-0 win in Week 18 as the Broncos clinched their first playoff berth since 2015.

Now, Payton is talking about the Broncos being a Super Bowl contender. One of the reasons for that is how much he says Nix has continued to grow since he was a rookie and threw for 3,775 yards with 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

“I think there’s a natural growth relative to especially the language (of the offense),’’ Payton said about Nix, taken No. 12 in the 2024 draft out of Oregon. “So that part of it naturally happens and then he’s kind of had those leadership abilities probably for most of his football career. He trains hard. His expectations of himself are higher than any others and that’s a good thing. So, yeah, all of that is relative going into his second season.”

Not surprisingly, Payton announced Wednesday that Nix is one of Denver’s eight captains. It’s the second season the quarterback has had that role.

“It’s something that I will never take for granted,’’ he said. “What makes it more special is you are voted by your peers, and so you are voted by your teammates.”

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Nix’s teammates have plenty of respect for him. Just listen to what wide receiver Courtland Sutton, entering his ninth season, said about him Wednesday.

“The dude loves football,’’ Sutton said. “He’s the definition of hating to lose more than he wants to win. The dude wants to win football games, that’s all. … You can see it in how he prepares. The dude is literally over there running gassers right now (after practice). He’s doing whatever he possibility can to be able to put himself in the best position to be successful for us.”

During the offseason, the Broncos did plenty to help Nix be even more successful. That included the offense being beefed up with the additions of two-time Pro Bowl tight end Evan Engram, running back J.K. Dobbins, who has averaged a head-turning 5.2 yards per carry in his career, and of intriguing rookies JK Harvey at running back and Pat Bryant at receiver.

“It’s great to add some experience, but also add some fresh legs from the draft,’’ Nix said. “So, we’re excited about our team. We know that we’ve put the pieces together, but we still have to go out there and play.”

While they aren’t new pieces, the Broncos also look to be better at receiver thanks to Marvin Mims Jr. and Troy Franklin. Mims is hopeful of taking another step after having a strong second half in 2024. Franklin, who played with Nix at Oregon from 2022-23 before also coming to Denver last year, had an impressive training camp and preseason after a so-so rookie campaign.

Then there’s Nix. Surtain said he has experienced a “tremendous amount of growth” since he was a rookie.

“He’s also carrying on the leadership aspect,’’ Surtain said. “He’s also carrying on knowing the offensive role a little bit more. … He has the utmost confidence in the guys around him and when you build that with a quarterback like him, the sky’s the limit.”

Nix’s season will be judged plenty on if the Broncos can better the 10-7 record they had in 2024, their first winning mark since 2016. With that in mind, Nix was asked about Sutton saying he hates to lose more than loves to win.

“You want to appreciate the victories, but also it’s the hatred of losing,’’ Nix said. “I hate just letting the team down. I hate letting the building down. Maybe it’s a fear of failure, but it’s more just a fear of letting people down around you. I just want to go out there and do my job at a high level because this organization has done a lot for me. … I just have to out there and … do my job and that’s to win games ultimately.”

So as bad as Nix’s statistics were in his NFL debut a year ago, you better believe what bothered him the most was that Denver lost.