In John Elway’s first 28 regular-season starts with the Denver Broncos, the quarterback completed 410-of-777 passes for 5,239 yards with 33 touchdowns and 34 interceptions and ran for 436 yards and two touchdowns on 93 carries. The Broncos won 18 of those games.

In Bo Nix’s first 28 regular-season starts with Denver 40 years after Elway’s, the quarterback completed 613-of-954 passes for 6,196 yards with 47 touchdowns and 20 interceptions and ran for 643 yards and seven touchdowns on 143 carries. The Broncos won 19 of those games.

“I think Bo Nix is the Broncos’ future John Elway,” Denver defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said during an appearance on the “Big Al and C.J. Podcast” this week. “He’s going to be here for a long time because he’s built for it. He’s built for it, I promise you that. And No. 2 about Bo Nix, we know on game day, he’s going to make a play because we watched it in practice all summer, all spring. He’s going to make a play. His skill set, man, he’s going to make a play eventually, you know, so defensively, offensively, we just play. As a team, we talk about how we’re going to win each game. And sometimes it’s strategic of how we’re winning these games, but we know end of the day, man, he’s going to make a play.

“He is tough and competitive and he’s smart and he wants to win every game he plays. And the boys love him.”

Elway played for Denver from 1983 through 1998. On the way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he led the Broncos to five Super Bowls and two NFL championships.

“That’s quite something coming from a coach like that, well-respected not only in our organization but in the entire league,” Nix said. “But, obviously, I know behind a statement like that comes a lot of work and responsibility, so doesn’t just happen in a year or two. It doesn’t just happen overnight, so got to continue to do my part, do my role in becoming the player that this team needs me to be, and I’m definitely not going to slow down till I’m that and more. So I’m excited about the opportunity at hand. I’m excited about the team that we’re building. I’m excited about where this organization is right now.

“Just all that to say, I know we got a long a long way to go. At the same time, we’re building something. We got a great culture. And I appreciate that statement, but definitely work and things behind the scenes that are going to, I guess, put some power to that statement. So let’s definitely slow down comparing me to John Elway for now.”

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In Elway’s second season, the Broncos posted a 13-3 record and won the AFC West. On Sunday night, Denver returns from its open date with a 9-2 record and in first place in the AFC West.

Nix’s 29th regular-season start will come when the Broncos start the six-game closing stretch of their regular-season slate against the Washington Commanders at 7:20 p.m. CST Sunday at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. NBC will televise the game.

“We put ourselves in this position now to put ourselves in that position then,” Nix said of Denver’s playoff drive. “And I think the job’s definitely not even close to being finished yet. But we have put ourselves in the spot to obtain it. And so that’s part of the journey. You got to put yourself in a situation to get there at the end and grab hold of it. But it’s right there in front of us and, like I said, you don’t get these opportunities a lot. They’re definitely hard to come by, so got to make sure that you take it and not miss it. You know, you don’t get these a lot.”

The Broncos haven’t played since a 22-19 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 16 – Denver’s third consecutive three-point victory and eighth win in a row.

“When you get back and you got the ability to have a strong finish to the season, that rest is really important,” Nix said. “So getting away for a while, not really thinking about it, not really working too much on it, but watching other games, watching some college and just getting away from it and being ready when you get back to be full go again and start back up.

“You don’t get these opportunities twice. It’s going to be here, and you get one shot at it, so we got to make the most of it.”

A prep start at Pinson Valley High School, Nix played three seasons at Auburn before transferring to Oregon, where he finished third in the voting for the 2023 Heisman Trophy. LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels won that award, then went to Washington with the second pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, 10 selections before the Broncos chose Nix.

An elbow injury will keep Daniels from playing on Sunday night, so the Commanders quarterback will be Marcus Mariota, who won the Heisman Trophy as Oregon’s QB nine years before Nix’s run at the award.

“He’s a great guy,” Nix said. “When he was at Oregon, I was back in elementary, grade school. Loved watching him play. He was one of the best quarterbacks of his time, of his generation, definitely of mine getting to watch. So I knew of him, and that was really about when Oregon was put on the map for a lot of us back on the other side of the country, so I knew Oregon football was big and knew it was a great destination because of guys like that, because of Marcus.

“But when I got there, he was out there a few weeks at a time training in the offseason. Got to talk with him and just catch up and great guy. Always asking about life, how it’s going and all that kind of stuff. Just very humble for all that he’s done. He’s very humble.

“And just a great player, one that a lot of us have admired watching over the course of time.”