Head coach Sean Payton officially hired Webb as Denver’s next offensive coordinator, the team announced Monday afternoon. The move comes less than a week after Payton fired offensive coordinator and longtime loyalist Joe Lombardi, setting in motion an offseason of offensive staff changes.

Denver also promoted offensive quality control coach Logan Kilgore to quarterbacks coach.

For weeks, it seemed Webb could have been heading for new pastures. The fast-rising Broncos quarterbacks coach was connected to the Las Vegas Raiders’ head-coaching job since Denver’s playoff bye week in early January, and emerged as a finalist this past week after meeting with them in person Jan. 26. Broncos second-year quarterback Bo Nix even acknowledged as much in an end-of-season conference call with reporters Wednesday.

“I think highly of him,” Nix said on Wednesday. “I know he’s a really good football coach. And I know he’s got a lot in store for him in the future — don’t know what it looks like, a lot of speculation. You never know until it happens.

“But for him, say he was a head coach in the division, I’d enjoy beating his butt two times a year.”

That’s no longer a concern, as the 31-year-old Webb will continue to work hand-in-hand with Nix in Denver. And Webb’s promotion hints he could take over play-calling duties, which would stand as an unprecedented move in Payton’s 18-year career since being named the head coach of the New Orleans Saints in 2006.

A source with knowledge of the situation told The Denver Post that there’s nothing in Webb’s OC deal that stipulates he’ll take over play-calling duties from Payton, and staff haven’t made a concrete decision if he’ll actually assume that role. But Webb had standing interest from the New York Giants, Baltimore and Philadelphia for their respective offensive-coordinator positions and play-calling duties, leaving little reason he’d stay on the Broncos’ staff for a simple title change.

When asked about Las Vegas’s interest in Webb last week, too, Nix discussed Denver having a “play-caller” — but didn’t specifically mention Payton.

“I know everything is all going to work out,” Nix said on Wednesday. “The season’s going to get here. We’re going to have an OC, we’re going to have a play-caller, we’re going to have our team. And we’re going to go out and try to beat our opponents.

“But just me speaking on him, he’s an awesome coach, going to be an awesome — in whatever role he’s in, he’s going to do great things.”

In October, Payton was asked on a conference call if he’d considered transferring play-calling duties — even for a brief period — to another member of his staff.

“I think we’re comfortable as an offensive staff of how we’re operating,” Payton said.

But after a season of inconsistent offense in Denver (14th in the NFL in points in the regular season), Payton has been particularly introspective in recent weeks. He cautioned himself against getting too conservative as a play-caller before Denver’s divisional win against Buffalo. He immediately allowed for self-second-guessing after a failed fourth-down call in the Broncos’ AFC title-game loss to the Patriots. Payton said Tuesday that “those are the moments you wish you had back,” although he deflected any notion he felt pressure for the call.

“I don’t pay attention to all the criticism,” Payton said. “I think if I paid attention to that, I don’t know that we’d ever be in this position.”

Hours later, though, the first domino fell in an early offseason of rapid staff changes for the Broncos. Payton fired Lombardi on Tuesday, after Lombardi had served for three years as Denver’s offensive coordinator and served under Payton as an assistant for 11 previous years in New Orleans. Payton also fired receivers coach Keary Colbert. Then, on Friday, Pete Carmichael — a senior offensive assistant in Denver who’d been Payton’s offensive coordinator for 12 years in New Orleans — left the Broncos for the Bills’ offensive-coordinator job.

With the Raiders closing in on Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Webb pulled himself out of the running for the Raiders’ head coach job. Denver interviewed Buffalo quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry and Commanders passing-game coordinator Brian Johnson in compliance with the NFL’s Rooney Rule, but were always centered on Webb as a top candidate.

Webb, who has never before called plays in an NFL regular-season game, was hired in 2023 as Payton’s quarterbacks coach immediately after a six-year NFL career as a backup QB. In August, though, he sparked buzz in assuming play-calling duties for the Broncos’ 27-7 preseason win over the Cardinals.

“I had thrown a couple of call sheets or stat sheets from my first time and highlighted a few things and said, ‘See if you can beat this,’” Payton said after that game.

“And he did.”

Webb drew such rave reviews for his work in the Denver quarterbacks room that No. 3 quarterback Sam Ehlinger turned down multiple other contract offers throughout the season in part to continue developing under Webb.

Webb has spent time around a series of terrific quarterbacks and unique offensive minds, from backing up Patrick Mahomes in college at Texas Tech to backing up Eli Manning and Josh Allen in the NFL. He’s learned from Air Raid evangelist Kliff Kingsbury to a West Coast-rooted, old-school program in Payton.

Asked about Webb’s ability to lead a locker room as a head coach, Ehlinger said he recognizes Webb has never coached a bigger group than a quarterback room, but didn’t think leading a larger organization would be an issue.

“Any time you’re the quarterback of a large college program and you also get meaningful snaps with an NFL organization, you’re in a position of leadership whether you like it or not,” Ehlinger said. “So he definitely has experience from a leadership standpoint in a locker room with football players and organizations. As a coach, he’s been leading our room. So he’s developed skills there, too.”

He’ll now experience a dosage of it in Denver as Payton’s OC, Webb’s latest endorsement in a rapid ascent.

Ehlinger said he, like many around the league, is interested to see what Webb’s style as a play-caller looks like in regular season games, whenever that time arrives.

“You kind of have to be in that situation when the pressure is on and the bullets are flying to really develop that signature,” Ehlinger said. “I think he’ll have a unique mix of kind of new-school, Air Raid, attacking style. But also be able to balance the run game with all that he’s learned here from Sean and his experience in Buffalo. I’m curious to see what that becomes.”

Kilgore spent the past three seasons with the Broncos in an offensive quality control role, but Payton and the Broncos have been bullish on his talent. The 35-year-old worked primarily with tight ends and returners in his previous role, but played quarterback in college at Middle Tennessee State. Then he spent an offseason with Payton in New Orleans as an undrafted free agent before getting into coaching. Kilgore was coaching tight ends at Arkansas State when Payton was hired as Denver’s coach in early 2023 and called him to join the staff.

Moving him up from a QC job to being the day-to-day man in front of Nix is a big affirmation from Payton and a major step up for Kilgore.

Kilgore and Webb together are central parts of a revamped, substantially younger offensive meeting room around Payton.

“I don’t like the storyline with Jarrett Stidham,” he told me as we shivered on the second-floor deck at Jackson’s LODO early Saturday night.

Then he corrected himself.

“I hate the storyline,” Grant continued, adjusting his bright blue Bruschi replica Patriots jersey.

“Why?” I wondered.

“Because we drafted him. And he gave us two years and then he left. And now he’s, like, the guy who’s coming in. I just don’t like the storyline.”

New England rolls an MVP-caliber quarterback into Denver — only to get beaten by a Broncos backup? Justin’s seen the movie before. He always ends up crying at the end.

The last time Grant, who calls Colorado Springs home but grew up in Maine, saw his beloved Pats at Empower Field was November 2015. When Osweiler rallied the Broncos past Tom Brady in the snow.

Talk about your classic PTSD — Pats Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“I’m 0-and-1, man,” Grant laughed on the eve of the AFC Championship between the Broncos and Patriots. “We don’t have a good record here.”

Sure don’t. The Pats are tied with the Steelers for the most Super Bowl victories (six) since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970. But they’ve never won a postseason game in Denver (0-4). Brady went 0-3. Empower Field was the one mountain too high for even the GOAT to climb.

“Honestly, man, after losing two Super Bowls to Eli Manning and one to Nick Foles,” Grant’s friend Jordan Buck, a Pats fan from Lakewood, told me, “I’m not overlooking anybody. But you’ve got to be confident in your squad, so I like my team’s chances.”

Love them, though?

Not after Osweiler. Or Foles. Or Eli twice.

“Yeah, (Stidham) hasn’t played in a long time,” Buck shrugged. “But I mean, he played for us for three years, so he knows us well.”

What did Broncos fans and Pats fans have in common Saturday? Stidham, who’ll make his first postseason start against New England in place of injured Broncos QB Bo Nix, was on the lips of both teams’ fans the hours before the biggest football game at Empower Field in a decade.

New Englanders packed into Jackson’s LODO for a pep rally just within shouting distance of Coors Field. Most of the shouts were distinctly of the NC-17 variety.

“I LOVE DRAKE MAYE!” a Patriots fan cried.

“(EXPLETIVE) THE BRONCOS!” Another screamed.

The “Night Before” rally was a brainchild of the Pikes Peak Pats fan club. PPP typically hosts a night-before primer on the eve of an AFC title game in Denver, but it’s been a while. January 2016 brought roughly 700 Front Range Pats fans together. PPP president Anne Stone told me they were expecting at least 1,000 this time around — if not more. With the sun setting and temps falling at 5:15 p.m., a line of at least 100 patrons was seen snaking out from the front door of Jackson’s and around the block.

Near the DJ stage on the second floor, the Patriots’ “All-Access”  television show did a live shoot for the locals back in Beantown. Pat Patriot danced in one corner. A giant ice sculpture of the New England logo rested in another. Former New England kicker Adam Vinatieri, the Patriots’ honorary captain for Sunday, showed up for his “All-Access” cameo as faithful waved tiny cardboard heads of New England rookie tackle Will Campbell.

“We all we got?” Vinatieri asked.

“We all we need!” they cried.

“We all we got?” Vinatieri repeated.

“We all we need!”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Vinatieri said.

It’s OK to roll your eyes. But not at the cause. PPP ran a raffle during the rally on Saturday, with a plethora of signed Pats items, in order to raise money for the

As a Boston native, Stone’s accent is thicker than chowdah, bless her, with a laugh that lilts like a fly ball onto Lansdowne Street. She moved to the Front Range 30 years ago when her husband got a new gig — and never left.

The Pikes Peak Pats Club started in 2006. Stone became president a year after that. PPP counts about 90 active members now. Before the pandemic, it was closer to 400. Things are more transient now, with East Coast military transplants looking for a good watch pah-ty coming and going as Uncle Sam ships them in and out of the Springs.

“It’s good,” Stone said. “You get to meet new people all the time.”

Pats owner Robert Kraft has even visited PPP tailgates and parties over the years, although he wasn’t on the guest list for Saturday’s rally.

And if Stone’s got any PTSD, deep down, she sure as heck wasn’t showing it.

“To tell you the truth, in all honesty, I think a lot of people, all of my Pats friends, everyone’s hearts are broken for poor Bo Nix,” Stone said. “Some of us are old enough that he could be our son. Here was a 25-year-old who spent the night crying. It’s just awful.”

A pause.

And cue the “but” …

“That being said, I don’t think we’re a shoo-in,” Stone continued. “I do think we’re going to win. That’s my gut reaction. You know what they say: ‘Any given Sunday.’ It’s true. And we don’t have good luck (in Denver).”

Oh and four.

As in, uh-oh and four.

“That worry you?” I asked Grant.

“Yes, it does,” he replied. “It worries me a lot.”

He just wishes Stidham would stop giving him that old Osweiler vibe.

“So hopefully,” Grant said nervously, “history doesn’t repeat itself.”

Stiddy as you Bo, man. Stiddy as you Bo.

Denver’s quarterback coach and passing game coordinator is, according to several whispers from Broncos types to The Grading The Week (GTW) staffers, a star-in-the-making.

Look,, let alone help them to go 24-10 together in the regular season, you ought to be up for the Nobel Peace Prize — never mind the vacant head-coaching gigs with the Raiders or Ravens.

Multiple reports have indicated the 30-year-old Webb has interviewed for both the Baltimore and Las Vegas jobs, by the way. Which is, at face level, a heck of a jump for somebody who’s never even been an NFL coordinator before.

Then again, Webb isn’t just “somebody.” As a player, the dude ran with Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield as a college QB at Texas Tech and with Eli Manning and Josh Allen as a pro. By his own admission, he’s also a pack rat, an analytics nerd and a teaching wonk — three dubious traits for a husband but three excellent traits for an NFL head coach.

Webb’s play-calling during the preseason raised some eyebrows and made some Broncos fans pine for the young guy to take over the call sheet permanently.

Regardless, he’s a guy on the climb. Unfortunately for ����apountry, so is Jim Leonhard.

Broncos staff being raided by NFL rivals — C.

The 43-year-old former Broncos safety and Wisconsin Badgers star was a coup when Payton and Denver snapped him up before the 2024 season. The ex-Badger was hired as defensive backs coach and defensive pass game coordinator before the 2024 season and was promoted to assistant head coach before this last one. The Broncos fielded one of the top secondaries in football last season, added Talanoa Hufanga as a free agent last spring and got even better in 2025 before injuries hit.

If Vance Joseph leaves Denver for a head-coaching job, a role he’s openly pined to get back to after a decent DC run with Arizona and a brilliant one in Dove Valley, it’s presumed that Leonhard would slide into VJ’s old slot here — assuming the former’s still here, of course. The Cowboys have asked permission to talk to Leonhard, who was highly regarded as a Big Ten play-caller, about being their DC, so the rumor mill over the next few weeks and months could be tricky. Potentially.

Payton’s built an incredible staff here in a short time. But one of the sad, eternal NFL truths is that incredible assistants almost always leave the nest to advance their own careers.

Fortunately, the Walton-Penner Group has shown a willingness to pay and retain good coaches, which is another reason why the Broncos are where they are. With Payton at the helm, Denver could probably afford to lose one of either Webb or Leonhard as the winter carousel looms. But boy, you’d hate to see the Broncos lose both.

Lorenzen’s Rockie Mountain High — C-plus.

Sometimes, desperation on the part of two sides can make for a questionable relationship, although with right-handed pitcher Michael Lorenzen and the Rockies, you wonder. Lorenzen, who’s now likely the Rockies’ No. 2 or No. 3 starter by default, has given up 73 homers since 2022. MLB’s Baseball Savant says he’d have given up only one more dinger (74) pitching most of his games at Coors Field. So that’s good. One of his best weapons has traditionally been a changeup, a decent “out” pitch on 20th and Bleak. More good. He’s also , which, over a season, would’ve ranked him fifth among 2025 Rockies who played in at least 25 games. Give the dude a bat! Why not make Lorenzen Denver’s own Colorad-Ohtani and have some fun with another lost summer in LoDo?

He can feel a moment months ahead through his fingertips.

Or in the way his feet shuffle and settle.

Or the way his hips flip to the exact angle his brain intuited.

In the Alabama summer swelter or under the baking Colorado sun, Nix can be transported from a solo training session to an all-eyes, nationally televised moment deep in the year.

A crisp autumn Sunday at Empower Field or a frigid Christmas night in Kansas City.

“We call it ‘creating future memories,’” Ben Neill, a longtime Nix quarterback trainer, told The Denver Post recently. “Like, when you’re training and you’re on the field and you make this great play and you move and you rip it in there and you just kind of flash in your head, ‘Man, that����ap going to happen in a game this year.’”

Nix created many actual memories during a historic rookie season as the Broncos’ quarterback.

He won the starting quarterback job for coach Sean Payton and almost just as quickly won over the locker room with a combination of confidence, authenticity and playmaking.

He started all 17 regular-season games, generated 34 touchdowns and helped lead Denver to its first postseason appearance in nearly a decade.

Along the way, Nix became a beacon of hope for Broncos fans who have seen a revolving door at the position since Peyton Manning retired. He became the pupil who will make or muddy the second act of Payton’s career and, eventually, his Hall of Fame candidacy.

He became the most recognizable ingredient in a mix of many that put Denver on the map as a contender this fall.

Now the expectations are massive.

So, how did Nix set about preparing to raise both himself and his team to the next level? To elevate himself into the rarefied air Payton thinks he can reach, and also back up his coach’s ardent belief in this team as a Super Bowl contender?

By doing less.

By slowing down, at least in pockets.

By trusting a process he’s never actually followed before, at least not quite like this.

By betting that a move or two he mastered in the thick, southern summer will help Denver when the NFL herd starts getting thinned in December and January.

Nix took what he’s come to believe about himself — that he doesn’t have to be anything other than himself to catch everything he’s after — and put it to work for the first time in a true NFL offseason. He channeled confidence and doubt, familiarity and new methods, laser focus on the moment and a broader sense of where he’s headed and came out of the most unique offseason of his career to date ready to take the Broncos to new heights in 2025.

“There’s this kind of almost in-between mindset of that genuine confidence that, ‘I can play and I can compete,'” Neill said. “But at the same time, ‘I’ve got a lot of improvement to do and a lot of getting better to do.’”

A unique offseason

For all but one team each year, the NFL season ends with blunt force.

One day you’re playing, the next you’re cleaning out your locker.

Nix, who had a minor ankle procedure after Denver’s Wild Card loss to Buffalo and thus was around the team’s facility, had trouble downshifting after playing in 20 games — two preseason, 17 regular season and the 31-7 playoff loss.

“The first couple weeks, you could tell he was still itching,” Broncos quarterbacks coach Davis Webb told The Post. “I was like, ‘No, no, buddy. It����ap done.’

“Now it����ap time to debrief. You need to go to Aspen or Vail for a weekend and then go somewhere else. Get away.”

One of the underrated factors for NFL rookies is the long road they travel before they ever get to playing in a game. Nix’s senior year at Oregon began in August 2023 and didn’t end until January 2024. Then he went straight into draft prep and training for the NFL combine. Meetings, pro day, private workouts. Zoom calls and Payton’s all-nighter quarterback test. Two weeks after the draft, he was at rookie minicamp, beginning the race to try to digest a playbook and win the starting job.

After that came 20 games, transverse process fractures in his back, an ankle injury and the accumulating wear and tear of what amounted to an 18-month sprint.

Nix knew he needed the recovery time. He also, though, knows himself well. He’s wired to always work. Always throw. Always do a little bit more.

He headed himself off at the pass by putting a plan in place well in advance.

When Nix first got drafted, Webb gave him an extensive guide to the NFL that included offseason schedules used by his old teammates and pupils like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield and Eli Manning. Webb then reiterated those ideas in a 3-page postseason to-do list for Nix.

The No. 1 thing: “This is your first big boy offseason,” Webb said. “You don’t need to throw 10,000 throws in February and March.”

Nix took some of the advice and then molded it into a schedule tailored to his liking.

“I wanted a good foundation, good ideas, and then I wanted to make it my own,” Nix told The Post. “Do things that I’ve been comfortable with in the past, but understand I’m also new to the NFL, new to the offseason, new to the schedule.

“I wanted to see what other guys had done, what other guys had found success with.”

Nix anticipated that he’d want to push the envelope quickly, but could also feel that he needed the change in pace.

“It was difficult at the beginning because what I’ve always done is just thrown,” he said. “But as I got into it, I felt better, my body felt better, I felt myself getting stronger without throwing. So I just trusted the process and understanding that a lot of other guys around the league use the same process. So seeing that it����ap been done before, I didn’t have to press or wonder if I was doing something that I wasn’t supposed to be doing or overworking.

“Our nature, sometimes you can overwork and you’re not really getting any better. You’re just spinning your tires. For me, it was trusting the guys around me, trusting my plan that I had put in place already, and don’t make any decision out of emotion because of what I want now.”

So often, what Nix wants in the moment is to feel like he’s doing enough.

Sprints. Throws. Playbook study. Nutrition optimization. Leading. Opponent scout. Self-scout. Weights. Film. An NFL quarterback has a broad constellation of disciplines to master before ever thinking about marketing, community involvement or any of the countless other endeavors that fill up a calendar.

None of it can ever be truly conquered. There is always another tendency to sniff out, another set of shoulder strengthening to do, another spin through the rolodex of play calls, checks and signals lurking.

They loom constantly, especially in the relative quiet of the offseason, as reminders that failure could be right around the corner.

“For me, I think it����ap more of the fear of not being ready, not being enough for the team,” Nix said earlier this offseason. “That����ap what continues to drive me.”

Neill calls it “the burden of being hyper-competitive.”

It����ap a common two-way street for high-level performers, but Broncos right tackle Mike McGlinchey says Nix’s ability to navigate the traffic stands out.

“You want to be able to control that to where it����ap not a detriment to you because your greatest strength sometimes, if you’re undisciplined, can become your greatest weakness,” McGlinchey said. “But Bo has handled that line so well.”

Process and processing

Nix throwing less this summer shouldn’t be confused with stasis.

Instead, he continued refining his knowledge of Payton’s playbook. He linked up with former Saints QB Drew Brees, the foremost expert on quarterbacking for Payton, to talk shop and life as the face of a franchise.

The time he spent with Neill at QB Country in Alabama over the course of the offseason zeroed in on the mental side of the game.

“We talked about seeing the field and how the field is made up of individual players who have individual assignments and zones,” Neill said. “But as you get used to seeing certain defenses, you can kind of start seeing the big picture of the defense instead of seeing individual players. That����ap an area of improvement that he feels like he’s growing in and made but wants to keep going. …

“Mentally, he knows the stuff, he knows the offense, he knows the defenses, and he knows how to put the pieces together. It����ap just a matter of seeing the big picture so you can see it faster.”

That����ap been the book on Nix so far through training camp and the preseason.

He didn’t show up with overhauled mechanics or a big weight change or more horsepower on his fastball.

Instead, the change is about tempo. It’s about feel.

“In and out of the huddle, you can see how good it is compared to what we’ve had,” general manager George Paton told The Post this summer. “He was good last year with it, but just accelerating those things will be huge for his growth.

“He’s mastering that, and he’ll grow and build off that. It’ll be fun to see where it goes.”

Nix, though, still ventures too far into perfectionist mode sometimes.

“He’s got to fix some of his self-talk. That����ap part of my deal with him,” Webb said. “But yeah, he cares, and that����ap awesome. You’d rather have it that way than the other way. Everyone struggles with that at some point; all athletes do, whether it be self-talk or being too hard on yourself.”

Webb tells Nix frequently, “I’m not going to be thinking about this when I go to bed, so you shouldn’t, either.”

The paradox: That trait isn’t far removed from one that those who know Nix best say makes him special. One of his true superpowers.

Once Nix does something, feels something, makes a correction on something, he’s got it locked away. Period.

So one play, he might be cursing himself out for a mistake, but then the next might generate a future memory.

“He can dial it in and put it in his library for later,” Webb said. “We’ll talk about it enough to where there’s a cue or a word with that play that he can quickly come back to it, good or bad. The bad ones are fun because that never leaves your brain, but that can be in a good way.

“You already lived the worst, so you’re ready for the next.”

The leap

What����ap next for Nix?

Payton sees his quarterback’s trajectory arcing toward the stratosphere.

He had no qualms telling Yahoo Sports he thinks the No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 draft will be in the “top four or five” among NFL quarterbacks in the next two seasons.

Of course, there are four quarterbacks in the AFC alone who are on Hall of Fame tracks in Mahomes, Allen, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow. That����ap before defending Super Bowl champion Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia and Washington’s rookie of the year Jayden Daniels, Los Angeles Chargers stalwart Justin Herbert and any number of other talented signal-callers.

Asked to defend that ground recently, Payton pointed to Nix’s preparation and work ethic and said, “There’s not one specific thing. I think he’s wiser to red zone, wiser to third down, the cadence. There are some nuances that, when you get real comfortable — maybe in Year 1, your snap count is this, and then pretty soon it����ap more of a weapon.

“A number of things like that.”

Neill sees the possibility, too. He said the first time he worked out with Nix years ago, the thought crossed his mind that this could be an all-time great player. There are countless factors that can break in countless directions, but one worth hanging the future of a franchise on.

“I think if you had to nail it on one thing that gives Bo the ability and probably gives Sean Payton the confidence that he’ll improve in all of those things, it����ap his mentality,” Neill said. “… He takes it that seriously and he works that hard. He has that Tom Brady mindset. I can see Bo eating avocado ice cream one day.

“He’s not going to do anything that would jeopardize the success that he wants to have, and he’s going to not leave any stone unturned. If he thinks something can give him a competitive edge, he’s going to do it.”

Now the question is how fast that translates on the field.

Webb’s theory: For most quarterbacks, the biggest difference between Year 1 and Year 2 is consistency.

“Then Year 3, in my opinion, is more of a player jump,” Webb said. “That����ap just my experience personally and with my friends. Everybody talks about Year 2, but I think that����ap just the world rushing like we do with everything. We have seen Year 2 jumps, but Rich Gannon’s was at 36 (years old). So everyone’s different. It depends on the situation you’re in, the village you’re around, the play-caller, your defense playing good, your o-line’s protecting you, guys are catching it and you’re executing. There’s a lot of domino effect there.

“I think (Nix) is doing good for his Year 2 development, and then next year will be another set of teaching that we’re not going to worry about right now.”

Webb is big on “the village.” He thinks far too much is made about the quarterback himself. But he’s been around a lot of franchise-carriers, too. He knows what it looks like.

“The great ones are consistently good every year,” Webb said. “So this is Bo’s first opportunity to go back-to-back and grow. His first year, it was great for his first year. But there’s still some things he can work on.”

Nix has a lot going for him.

A good village. Terrific defense. Veteran offensive line. Stability in the coaching ranks.

Not every young quarterback has it so nice. Two of Nix’s fellow 2024 first-rounders, No. 1 pick Caleb Williams in Chicago and No. 3 pick Drake Maye in New England, are already on their second head coaches. No. 8 pick Michael Penix, Jr. in Atlanta only started the final three games of last year, and No. 10 pick J.J. McCarthy in Minnesota missed his whole rookie year due to injury.

Nix, like 2024 No. 2 overall pick Daniels in Washington, leads a team that had no idea exactly what to expect a year ago and now finds itself getting Super Bowl buzz.

Village or not, that comes with remarkable pressure.

The Broncos’ rookie quarterback window is open.

The roster is stacked.

The conference is, too, but teams don’t get long runways in this league.

Can Nix take his game to the next level?

“I’ve got a lot ahead,” Nix said. “A lot to learn from. A lot to transition to. I’m just excited. It����ap a great opportunity, and I’m really excited about where I’m at right now.

“I think Year 2 will be a lot of learning again, but it will be a lot more fun.”

In 1983, Jack Elway advised John to refuse to play for the Baltimore Colts, owners of the No. 1 overall pick. The Elways were wary of hard-driving Colts coach Frank Kush and maintained a dim view of Baltimore winning a Super Bowl. With the help of John’s professional baseball leverage from the New York Yankees,they strong-armed a trade to the Broncos.

In 2004, Archie Manning told Eli to consider not going to the San Diego Chargers. It had not exactly been a fertile ground for developing young quarterbacks Ryan Leaf and Drew Brees. Eli shared similar concerns, so he became the first 23-year-old millionaire to not want to live in San Diego.

Why bring this up now? Because of the echoes in Colorado.

Every 21 years, a father knows best. Deion Sanders has served as a mentor for Shedeur since his Pop Warner days. Shedeur was questioned about his dad’s influence over the draft process while attending the East-West Shrine Bowl this week.

“I didn’t know your parents being involved and wanting the best for you is a problem,” Sanders said.

It is not. Because of what Jack and Archie did, you should have no issue with what Deion might do.

Accusations of “Daddy Ball” and “helicopter parent” have followed Sanders since he decided to coach Shedeur and Shilo. It has not been without controversy, whether it was the coach throwing offensive linemen under the bus or one son (Shedeur) avoiding consequences for throwing late in a game and another (Shilo) throwing his body late into receivers.

In this case, however, Shedeur has a point. A parent helping can be a good thing. Especially when that parent is Deion. He is a Pro Football Hall of Famer. He knows people. And he knows people who know people. So why shouldn’t he provide advice?

I fully support it.

But Shedeur does not need it, at least not publicly. He can handle his business. He made this clear during an NFL Network sideline interview this week when explaining a FaceTime interruption during his meeting with the Tennessee Titans, owners of the draft����ap top pick.

“The thing was my dad was calling me. That was the funniest,” Shedeur said with a laugh. “You know, he has separation anxiety. I said, ‘Pops, it����ap over with. It����ap time for me to soar.’ The coaches enjoyed that.”

Does that mean Deion should have zero concerns about Shedeur going to the Titans and Browns? Heck no. The Titans have not developed a star since Steve McNair, and Cleveland is to quarterbacks what Spinal Tap is to drummers. Since 1999, the Browns have used 40 starting quarterbacks, and they are hoping the highest-paid QB in franchise history — Deshaun Watson — never plays for them again.

If Deion tells Shedeur to avoid Cleveland, who would blame him? Thus far, Deion does not seem to have an issue with the Titans or Browns. But if he does, I would suggest he do it in private rather than allow the cameras to record his thought process for Amazon or anyone else.

Deion also must understand that steering his son is fraught with more danger than his predecessors. Simply put, Shedeur is not John Elway or Eli Manning. He is a solid prospect with a high football IQ who throws a beautiful ball. There are more than a few NFL scouts who insist Sanders would not have been drafted before any of the first-rounders a year ago, a list that includes the Broncos’ Bo Nix.

Elway is considered the greatest quarterback prospect ever. Manning was viewed as a can’t-miss pick because of his game and name.

It is more complicated for Shedeur. Take off the horned headband and you can see his flaws. He holds onto the ball too long, takes too many sacks and does not possess physical size that widens eyes. If you don’t realize the first two things are a concern, you did not watch Caleb Williams’ rookie season. It is why most mocks have Miami’s Cam Ward getting picked before Shedeur.

The young Sanders got here through his excellence at Jackson State and CU. He is tough and smart. Tell people that his dad protected him, and they get angry and defensive. But it is not wrong to wonder how Shedeur will take to pro coaching.

For all the hand-wringing about Shedeur’s future, he believes everything will work out. In his mind, he is headed to the New York Giants, who have the third pick and a ready-made favorite target in Malik Nabers.

If I had to guess today, he is not wrong. If Deion wants to drop hints behind the scenes that Tennessee and Cleveland don’t make sense, have at it. It is better for Shedeur to wind up with the Giants, Raiders or Jets.

But Deion should know this: He has prepared his son well. Shedeur no longer needs a bodyguard, just an Uber to whisk him around Manhattan.

They counted in the fourth quarter of a Week 6 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, sure. But did they mean anything?

The Broncos coach scoffed at the notion that night at Empower Field.

“Let����ap be honest: It picked up when we started going up-tempo. And when you’re behind, then you’re getting an entirely different coverage look,” Payton said minutes after his team fell to 3-3.

The Broncos had been shut out into the fourth quarter before turning a 23-0 deficit into a 23-16 final count. Bo Nix entered the fourth quarter 4-of-14 passing for 27 yards, a sack and a bad first-quarter interception — reminiscent of the minus-7 he had in the first half two weeks earlier at the New York Jets — and had no answers for the Chargers’ defense.

If Payton discounted the frantic final frame, though, his 29-year-old quarterbacks coach politely disagreed.

In fact, Davis Webb now points to it as the moment he knew Nix had the goods to lead the Broncos on a run.

Since the day Nix was drafted, Webb has been his NFL sherpa. They’re together every day on the field and in the meeting room. When they’re not in one of those two spots, they’re texting ideas and questions, plans and plays, corrections and encouragement, regardless of the hour.

Webb’s been confident in Nix from the start and programmed his whole coaching arsenal specifically for the rookie.

In this moment, though, the young coach was frustrated.

“We were down and we were not moving it,” Webb recalled this week. “I think I said something to him and it probably wasn’t very nice.”

Nix didn’t pout or shout back. He made his point on the field instead.

“He made probably five plays in one quarter alone that I only know of two other people who could have done that,” said Webb, who backed up Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech and then Eli Manning and Josh Allen in the NFL. “I knew it, right then and there. …

“And then he got on a little streak.”

Indeed he did, and so did his team.

Starting with that fourth quarter, Nix played Denver’s final 11-plus games to a 105.8 quarterback rating. He completed 69.6% of his passes and threw 26 touchdowns against seven interceptions.

The Broncos won seven of their final 11 games, didn’t lose at home after that day and made the playoffs for the first time since the 2015 season.

Nix, of course, is a big reason why. He is not the only one, though. In fact, after he caught fire against L.A., the rookie became just the latest in a long line of successful moves the Broncos made between the end of a drama-filled 2023 season and a promise-filled 2024 campaign.

A centerpiece, to be sure, but one of many critical players acquired by Payton and general manager George Paton that fit neatly into the Broncos’ puzzle and helped turn a rebuild into a playoff contender in a few short months.

Cap hazard

Of course, none of that could have been predicted when the Broncos officially released quarterback Russell Wilson in March.

At that time, it was difficult to overstate the number of questions that existed on the roster.

They had no answer at quarterback.

They had a defense that ended up ranked near the bottom across the board outside of a mid-2023 turnover barrage.

They had cut loose veterans like Randy Gregory and Frank Clark and turned to a young group that at times looked up to the task but also struggled.

They didn’t have much cap room to work with and they knew that getting rid of Wilson meant swallowing the largest dead salary cap charge for a single player in league history.

They allocated $53 million of Wilson’s $85 million in dead cap — guaranteed money that teams have not yet put on their salary cap books — on the 2024 ledger.

Add in charges for Gregory, Clark and a host of others, and Denver faced the prospect of trying to contend with more than a third of its cap space chewed up by players no longer on the roster.

“Sometimes those types of challenges, you roll up your sleeves,” Payton said this week. “I think your players certainly do have a little bit of a chip when they see those initial prognostications or whatever. Then eventually, when you’re in this long enough, you tune that stuff out because half those people don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.

“Who’s done this before with over $80 million dead? No one’s done that before. Let����ap be the first one.”

The Broncos aren’t completely in uncharted territory. While they do have the largest raw number of dead cap charges — right around $90 million, according to OvertheCap and — of any playoff team in history, the percentage of cap room dedicated to dead money is slightly behind the Los Angeles Rams last year.

They were well aware of that success and the way three other teams managed to make the playoffs with big dead cap totals in 2023, as well.

“We’re hoping to follow the same model,” Paton told The Post during training camp, noting that all four — the Rams, Green Bay, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay — still managed to get quality quarterback play.

That trend continued this year.

Six of the 10 teams carrying the most dead cap qualified for the playoffs, while only three teams in the bottom 10 made it.

“My takeaway has been that dead money shows that a franchise takes risks, which is good in the NFL,” OvertheCap founder Jason Fitzgerald . “And (it) sometimes forces a team into getting younger, which is also good.”

If you’re carrying a lot of dead cap for a year or two, Fitzgerald surmised, you might just be doing necessary roster overhaul. If you’re consistently near the top of the list for the 3-5-year range, then you’re probably just making too many mistakes.

In the Broncos’ case, the decision to admit their mistake and move on from Wilson was bold — the team paid him $39 million this year and Pittsburgh paid him only $1.21 million — and ultimately successful.

Puzzle pieces

Jettisoning Wilson and other veterans also boxed the Broncos in during free agency, however. They had a little room to work with but had to push money down the road to create enough to make even modest moves.

One year after shelling out $128 million guaranteed on the first day of free agency, the Broncos last offseason were forced to take a different approach. They finished No. 29 in free-agency spending,

“It was the idea that we’d all like to go out and shop for ‘X’ number of groceries, but we’re going to have to go down a different aisle,” Payton said.

Turns out, the Broncos still managed to find plenty of ingredients, particularly on defense.

In 2023, Vance Joseph’s group couldn’t stop the run and was inconsistent rushing the passer. A bad combination.

Then in the spring, the Broncos released the heartbeat of that unit in longtime safety Justin Simmons.

Paton and Payton went to work retooling via free agency.

They signed safety Brandon Jones, defensive lineman Malcolm Roach and inside linebacker Cody Barton to modest deals. During the NFL draft, they traded a future sixth-round pick for John Franklin-Myers and quickly signed him to a reworked, two-year deal worth $15 million.

Those four players could not have fit Vance Joseph’s defensive group much better.

Jones led the team in tackles, logged three interceptions and finished the regular season with the third-highest Pro Football Focus grade among safeties in the NFL.

Roach and Franklin-Myers transformed Denver’s defensive line from one of the league’s worst into one of its best.

“I tell people all the time: JFM is the best 3-technique I’ve ever played with,” outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper told The Post. “Malcolm Roach brings a different type of energy and juice that����ap rarely like any teammate I’ve ever had. Having those guys on our team and what they’ve been able to accomplish and help us to this year, it����ap been irreplaceable.”

Barton took over calling the defense when Alex Singleton tore his ACL in Week 3 and has played 91% of Denver’s snaps.

The quartet of additions counts $13.63 million on the Broncos’ salary cap this year. The team saved $14.5 million when it released Simmons.

“They did an awesome job,” safety P.J. Locke said of the Denver front office. “I don’t know what else to say about it. They did a great job going out and getting the guys that we exactly needed.”

The results have been obvious.

Denver’s ranked near the top of the league in most defensive categories. The Broncos are solid against the run, they’re among the most difficult teams in the NFL to throw the ball against, they led the league in sacks by a wide margin, and they’re stingy in the red zone.

Built to last

A year ago this week, Payton wouldn’t even entertain the idea that the Broncos had set a foundation to build on.

He knew the quarterback change was coming. He knew several veteran players didn’t fit what he wanted. He knew it felt like his team had a long way to go just to find the starting line.

A partial list of what he didn’t know:

• Whether he’d find a quarterback in the draft or free agency that he loved

• Who would start at cornerback opposite Pat Surtain II

• Where a consistent pass rush might come from

• Who would play with Zach Allen and D.J. Jones on the defensive line

• Who would play center in the middle of an expensive offensive line

When the Broncos arrive in Buffalo for their first playoff game in nine years, they will do so as a group that����ap answered all of those questions and more and done it, improbably, in one lightning bolt of an offseason.

First the series of shrewd signings. Then the Nix pick. The JFM trade. Second-year surges from cornerback Riley Moss and receiver Marvin Mims Jr. A litany of guys playing the best football of their careers, from cornerstones like Surtain and right guard Quinn Meinerz to a rising star in Nik Bonitto, to veteran receiver Courtland Sutton. And a pair of guys who played their way into in-season extensions in Cooper and left tackle Garett Bolles.

They have their entire offensive line under contract for 2025. Their defensive core, except for Barton and defensive tackle D.J. Jones, is intact, too.

They have an easing — although still real — cap burden related to Wilson in 2025 and then are in the clear in 2026. They have needs and more tough decisions ahead.

They have Nix.

They think they have a puncher’s chance against the Bills. Whether the season ends Sunday or further on down a surprise postseason run, they know they’ve got a future that looks, after years of darkness, quite bright.

“I love it,” Cooper said Thursday, fresh out of any more ways to describe the past 10 months. “I love this team for real, man.”

2024 NFL dead money leaders

2024 playoff teams in bold | Source: Spotrac

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Bang for the buck

Source: Spotrac

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Keeler: They’ll both be gone before pick No. 4, my friend. I just can’t entirely convince myself that they’re bound for Tennessee, which has the top pick, or Cleveland, which selects second. It’s a classic CU quandary: Coach Prime wants his son or Hunter to go No. 1. I’m not sure he’s particularly enamored with the idea of Shedeur in Nashville, though — or anyone from the family landing with the Brownies. The former’s had the Giants on the brain for weeks, even to the point of that featured the G-Men’s famous blue-and-red logo. Titans coach Brian Callahan is a good guy with a strong pedigree. Shedeur’s got what he needs. I’m just not sure Nashville’s got what the Sanders family wants as a marketing destination.

Renck: The Titans and Callahan, a former Broncos assistant, face an interesting decision. They need an adult at quarterback after Will Levis showed he is more well-versed in than a blitzing defense. But does Tennessee like Sanders enough to take him first? Projections already have them selecting Miami’s Cam Ward. A strong case could be made for taking Hunter as the best player available and then chasing a quarterback next season. Hunter, though, wants the opportunity to play on both sides of the ball. Would the Titans agree to this? They would be stupid not to.

Keeler: Hunter is two Pro Bowl players for the price of one, the perfect gift for a franchise that needs … everything. The Titans and Browns certainly fit that bill. But in a QB-coach league, nothing moves the needle the way landing the right QB1 does. Just ask the Broncos, who got it right with Bo Nix on, what, the 12th try? 13th? Callahan worked wonders with Joe Burrow in Cincy. I’d bet he’s looking for a Runway Joe of his own, and Shedeur can already make the throws Burrow had to learn as an NFL rookie. The Titans are taking a QB at No. 1 — or trading out of that slot to a team Shedeur and the Sanders family want to play for and using that leverage to stockpile picks. It wouldn’t shock me if this whole thing takes a few Eli Manning twists.

Renck: Of the top three teams, my educated guess is Sanders would prefer, in order, the Giants, Titans and Browns. While the glory of going first overall is cool, the NFL is about finding the right fit. Sanders’ best chance at success lies in New York with coach Brian Daboll — his job is safe — and receiver Malik Nabers, who already has a friendship with the former CU star. I can see Deion pulling strings behind the scenes to prevent Shedeur from going to the quarterback graveyard that is Cleveland. And I wouldn’t blame him. But let����ap be fair. If Shedeur wants to position himself to get to the Giants, he must show he can adapt to the NFL and function without his father as his coach. Very few quarterbacks have been sacked as many times as he was in college — we all agree he holds onto the ball too long — and prospered at the next level. The Bears’ Caleb Williams provided a “What Not To Do” template this season. The tough part of this scenario? It means it could put Hunter in Cleveland as a full-time cornerback and part-time receiver. Cue the Rolling Stones, “You can’t always get what you want. …. “

Keeler: But if you try sometimes, well, you just might find … you get what you need. Coach Prime has always looked out for his kids’ best interests. And no NFL dad, if they have a vote, is going to let their QB son land in Cleveland. The Giants are the best fit for Shedeur, for all the reasons you cited — plus the market. While Hunter got the Heisman, if the game is to avoid starting your NFL career along Lake Erie, No. 12 might wind up getting the short end of the stick.

Green Bay edge rusher Lucas Van Ness was right in his face, free off Nix’s left side, and Nix double-clutched before throwing the ball into the turf in front of tight end Adam Trautman at Empower Field on Aug. 18.

Not pretty, but not a calamity.

He shot a glance to the sideline, where quarterbacks coach Davis Webb made a motion with his hand.

This was going to be revisited.

Three days later, after Nix had been named the first Broncos rookie starting quarterback since John Elway, he still had the lone incompletion of his outing against the Packers on his mind.

“I completely botched one play that I needed to fix and we fixed that a lot today — over the last few days,” Nix told reporters then. “We had a whole drill that Davis set up just because of the play that I messed up. But that����ap good because that means you won’t mess it up again.

“That����ap one where every time it����ap called from here on out, I will always think about that one time I messed it up.”

The next snap, Nix threw a third-and-9 strike to Tim Patrick for 14 yards. He finished the drive with a 2-yard scoring pass to Patrick a few plays later.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Webb says Nix overstated how bad the mistake was. But he didn’t overstate the intentionality in addressing it.

“It wasn’t that bad of a miss. We converted the next play to Tim,” Webb told The Denver Post. “It wasn’t too bad, but I definitely knew it was going to come back up later in the year at some point, whether it be that style of play, different formation, whatever.

“But I wanted to hammer it home and also have some fun with it with the vets.”

Here is the Broncos quarterback position, present and future, in a nutshell as they open the 2024 regular season with Nix at the helm.

The 24-year-old has shown aptitude, but there are mistakes, bumps in the road and corrections ahead. So Webb is leveraging everything at his disposal to try to smooth the road as much as possible, from Nix’s appetite for learning to his own experiences as a player to those of fellow Denver quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson.

“He’s going to know this first”

When the Broncos drafted Nix No. 12 overall this spring, Webb caught a ride on the charter jet to Alabama to pick the quarterback and his family up.

After the introductory whirlwind, Nix had a couple of weeks before rookie minicamp.

Webb had an idea. He thought back to competing with Baker Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes for starting jobs in college. To trying to find his way in the NFL. Backing up Eli Manning and Josh Allen. Swimming in all of the stuff that comes with being a quarterback, even a reserve, at the highest level.

Then he started writing.

“I sent him a 15-page outline of what I wish I knew then and what I know now,” Webb said. “And then a few different schedules from Eli or from Josh or from Pat, just kind of like their daily schedules in the offseason and a couple of ideas just to try to help. I mean, I didn’t get that information and there’s a lot of things I wish I got earlier in my career that I didn’t get. I was going to make sure (he) was not going to have to go through some of the things I had to go through or some teammates of mine or even Zach and ‘Stiddy.’

“We all have some story about what we wish. And I was like, ‘Let����ap knock that out right now.’ It����ap the first thing we’re ever going to give him, so he’s going to know this first.”

It started with quotes and thoughts Webb has collected over the years.

“About just handling the noise, handling the pressure and handling being yourself and not changing over time,” Webb said. “Two of my friends, Josh Allen and Pat Mahomes, have never changed. They could easily, but they’re the same guys. Now, your life is going to update a little bit and who you are as a person needs to update, too, but in a good way. I think we have that with Bo.”

Nix’s teammates seem to agree. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey said Nix has been “authentically himself” since he arrived in Denver. Others speak in similarly glowing terms about Nix’s presence, calm nature and maturity. That doesn’t guarantee wins, but it����ap a baseline that����ap essentially required for any prospect of sustained success at the position.

“It����ap cool to see,” said reserve offensive lineman Alex Forsyth, who was Nix’s teammate at Oregon in 2022. “I really enjoyed being his teammate at Oregon and really enjoy being his teammate now. It����ap been good to kind of see your guys that you played with in college grow and take that next step. It����ap been fun to watch.”

Learning the pupil

None of that does much good if the player can’t learn the playbook or execute the details.

During the draft process, Webb took it upon himself to not just figure out how well each of the quarterbacks in the 2024 class could learn, but also how they learned.

���ܰ����Բ� the interviews and privates with Sean, (general manager) George (Paton), (player personnel executive) Cody (Rager) and some of the scouts, you kind of had a feel for what you’re trying to quiz them on and test them on, but I would kind of give four or five different ways of learning just to see which way they picked up on it. Then I’d make a mental note of that.

“‘These are the ones they missed, alright it was this style of learning. These are the ones they hit, it was that style of learning.’ Then just used that to get ready for whoever it was that was going to come here to adjust my meeting style to that.”

Nix, like a lot of quarterbacks, is a visual learner. He likes grinding on the playbook, but seeing is critical. Seeing becomes believing and believing becomes the foundation to build on.

“Bo, ‘Stiddy,’ Zach, if I say a play, they’ll tell you the (video) clip it was for,” Webb said. “If you can tie in visual learning to making it fun, whether that be power points or trivia — big trivia room, we are — and just continue to quiz and walk through and build a routine, consistently, on every play, that����ap been very good for him.”

Payton’s told the story several times about how much playbook information Nix retained from one night of studying in March when the Broncos were in Oregon to work him out after his pro day.

“That carries out every day,” Webb says now. “I send him things to work on every day when we leave here and he comes back the next day and he dominates it and owns it. That����ap encouraging and that makes you want to coach harder for a player that����ap doing the extra work.”

A little help from my friends

The Broncos staged what was billed as a three-man quarterback battle this summer.

Intentionally or not, though, the complexion of the group ended up serving another purpose.

Nix may not have a Hall of Famer or even a long-time starter to learn from like Jordan Love did with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay or Mahomes with Alex Smith in Kansas City.

What he does have is a trio who have combined to experience a lot of NFL ups and downs.

Wilson, the No. 2 overall selection in 2021, knows the white-hot spotlight of being a please-save-the-franchise pick and knows what it����ap like to fail in that glare.

Stidham shares an alma mater with Nix, hosted him on a recruiting visit and, of course, learned a thing or two playing behind Tom Brady in New England earlier in his career.

Then there’s Webb himself — “Almost like the wily veteran quarterback that����ap in the room,” as Payton described him this summer — who’s spent his entire playing career around high-caliber quarterbacks and who developed a reputation as a terrific teacher even while he was still playing.

In Webb’s ideal world, they provide something like armor for Nix. As a collective, he says, they can help steel the rookie for what����ap coming beginning Sunday at Seattle even if they can’t walk the path for him.

“Everyone has a first game,” Webb said. “One of the first things we talked about when he came here was, who has the most interceptions in their rookie year?”

Peyton Manning with 28, of course.

“Alright, well he’s one of the best ever,” the 29-year-old assistant continued. “Like, it����ap going to be OK. In today’s world, it����ap a little bit different. Zach can attest to it, especially with the New York media it can be a little bit tougher. But it����ap great to have a room full of guys that all have different experiences because we’re all force-feeding Bo our experiences so hopefully that way he doesn’t have to go through some of the crap that we went through.”

That was the real point of the drill Webb made up in the middle of training camp. There’s the actual technique fix and there’s also the broader philosophy. You made a mistake. Who cares? We’ll fix it. There’s more coming, so keep bouncing back and then keep expecting to be held accountable — and probably laughed at a little bit — back in the comfort of the quarterback room.

This is Webb’s rookie curriculum for Nix. It����ap not scattershot. It����ap been plotted and refined since before the draft and put into place over the past four-plus months. Now the first test for Nix is here.

Webb sees it more as a test for the whole group.

“Me, ‘Stiddy’ and Zach have been trying to find as many different ways as we can to double down on things that we wish we had growing up through being a rookie or a second-year guy,” he said. “It����ap easy looking back now kind of like, ‘Oh man, I wish I knew back then.’

“So we’re trying to expedite a lot of that process for Bo right now.”

NFL First-round rookie QBs (since 2018)

Instant success is uncommon among rookie quarterbacks in the NFL. The last time a first-round rookie won a season opener was back in 2018, when Sam Darnold led the New York Jets to a 48-17 win in Detroit. Here’s a look at each first-round QB since then:

(Can’t see on mobile? Click here.)

Peyton, the Hall-of-Fame Broncos quarterback who led the team to its last Super Bowl victory in 2016, and brother Eli show up on stage in the , which “required a number of top secret operations in the city, including set building, choreography and rehearsals, and a number of other actors on stage with the brothers, plus a full ‘audience’ in attendance,” according to a statement.

“The four-hour shoot day saw Peyton and Eli sing and dance their musical numbers live, while separately laying down additional vocal tracks in a full studio recording session,” a publicist for Omaha Productions wrote. Kent Denver is an exclusive private school for grades six-12 that is located at 4000 E. Quincy Ave. in Cherry Hills Village.

So how did they fare?

Let’s just say they shouldn’t quit their day jobs. In the video, which promotes Season 4 of their alternate-live television broadcast of Monday Night Football, the brothers lean on celebrity cameos for the relatively elaborate production. That includes Bob Iger, CEO of a little company called Disney, to start.

“Can you just get us a theater?” Peyton asks, his for “ManningCast” in the background, of Iger in his sudden quest to get a Tony Award.

Not all of it was filmed in Denver, of course. that production began right after the Pro Bowl in February, and some of the L.A.-based cameos are spliced into the stage show; see Kevin Hart, Snoop Dogg, Bill Burr, Pete Davidson and Jimmy Kimmel. Plus, of course, NFL regulars such as Sean McVay, Ja’Marr Chase, and Andy Reid.

Watch the parade of weirdness above, or on .

Manning last week also announced a show interviewing actor and writer Larry David, of “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” at Denver’s Paramount Theatre on Sept. 20.

Just about 10 hours prior, the Broncos took their biggest swing yet in an eight-year quest to solve the franchise’s post-Peyton Manning quarterback woes when they selected Nix No. 12 overall in the NFL draft.

With the sky turned orange, hope dawned anew on the Front Range and Webb climbed aboard a private jet short on sleep and long on excitement.

A couple of hours later, the sole passenger landed in Alabama where he greeted Nix and his parents, wife and brother. They all got back on board and doubled back to Colorado, where a Friday full of introductions, media, photos and hoopla ensued.

Webb watched Nix’s introductory news conference from the flank and always seemed to be nearby as the new Denver quarterback worked his way through the car-wash afternoon.

The intended message — that Webb, the Broncos’ 29-year-old quarterbacks coach, is going to be there for Nix at every turn as NFL life accelerates from post-draft glow through offseason acclimation and into the warp speed of the regular season — came through loud and clear.

“I love Davis already,” Nix told The Denver Post that day as he walked across the grass practice fields at his new home. “I know he’s been through exactly what I’ve been through. He understands it. He understands the position, he understands the game, he understands the league. And he’s already a mentor to me because he’s going to teach me so much. I’m going to be able to present myself in a way that����ap good because he’s giving me an opportunity to learn.”

There is not a player on the Broncos’ roster who has a bigger say in the franchise’s future than Nix.

There is not a person in the building with more on the line in terms of legacy than head coach Sean Payton.

But Webb, the former backup quarterback who jumped right into coaching a year ago, enters this new era as a key piece of the puzzle in a quarterback room that looks about as different as possible from 2023.

New but familiar room

Football is a small world and the quarterback fraternity is even smaller.

Consider the ties in the Broncos quarterback room alone.

Jarrett Stidham hosted Nix on his official visit to Auburn in 2019.

Stidham is a Stephenville, Texas, native whose college career started in 2015 at Baylor. So he knew all about Webb, a Prosper, Texas, native who played 2013-15 at Texas Tech.

“We go way back,” Stidham told The Post. “I’ve known him since I was 15, 16 years old back when he was at Texas Tech. We have a different relationship, I would say, than probably most quarterbacks and quarterbacks coaches.”

Webb played with Baker Mayfield at Tech, then backed up Patrick Mahomes for a year before transferring to Cal. He was a third-round pick in 2017. Two years later, Stidham went in the fourth round after he’d transferred from Baylor to Auburn.

Three years after that, Nix was calling Stidham for advice as he considered transferring to Oregon.

Now Nix and Stidham are joined by Zach Wilson under the tutelage of Webb in Denver’s quarterback room.

Wilson may have less direct connection than the other three, but he, too, already raves about Webb.

“He’s phenomenal,” Wilson said. “I couldn’t speak enough about Davis. I think he does a great job, just the player-to-coach relationship and his understanding of, one, how to transition to being a coach so quickly. … But his ability to transition between both and share his experience and the things he’s gone through and also be a coach at the same time is really impressive.”

The Dragon

In Buffalo, the weekly Dragon reports were the stuff of legend.

Webb would compile essentially an advanced scouting report on upcoming opponents. He started doing it in 2017 in New York at Eli Manning’s request and kept up the practice when he got to the Bills in 2019 after a year with the Jets.

His nickname, Dragon, made the move upstate, too. The origins of the nickname are a secret, , but a former teammate gets out a fair cover story after a laugh.

“He’s just always getting after it and he’s kind of that fireball,” quarterback Matt Barkley, who crossed over with Webb in Buffalo in 2019-20, told The Post of the nickname originally bestowed by Manning.

What Barkley did figure out is what almost everybody who met Webb during his playing days seemed to deduce: The guy was going to be a coach whenever he decided to stop playing.

“I haven’t been with him as a coach, but just being with him in the room, he’s just very bright, smart, sees everything,” Barkley said. “… He’s been preparing for coaching probably since the day he started playing football. He’s just always had a knack for it and a good eye for seeing what he wants. He’s just dialed in in every way.”

The Dragon report showed it off every Friday.

“Anything that was missed during the week he’d cover, especially for some of the young guys still learning the offense,” Barkley said, adding that coverages, tendencies, personnel and just about anything else could be in the report. “In a way, it was him already coaching.”

At this point, the story is well known. Buffalo coach Sean McDermott tried to hire Webb after the 2021 season, but Webb wanted to play one more year. He went back to the Giants, where former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was the head coach, ended up on the practice squad most of the year, threw 40 passes in Week 18 and then weeks later took Sean Payton’s job offer in Denver.

Payton knew Webb was highly sought-after. He has told the story multiple times about being blown away by Webb’s interview and moving quickly to hire him.

What did he learn watching Webb work for a year?

“He was tremendous on keeping things simple and knowing how to read certain plays and how to approach the game,” Payton said. “I think he’s very positive with these guys. … Davis brings energy, experience and almost like that wily veteran quarterback that����ap in the room, which I think is a plus.”

Stidham, the lone holdover, saw it firsthand.

“There’s a certain way he teaches,” Stidham said. “He understands how the game has evolved. He doesn’t over-teach and he doesn’t under-teach. He gets that football is a reactionary sport. So, yeah, on paper you can say one thing, but then you get out there and you feel just a little bit of movement from a linebacker or a safety.

“He’s been so good.”

The big challenge

Webb’s first season wasn’t without tribulation, of course. Russell Wilson, a nine-time Pro Bowler, had years of experience, but his play style clashed with Payton from the start.

It was Webb’s job, in a way, to bridge the gap. To figure out some synergy for oil and water. To be a thorough coach but also the good cop.

Multiple times when Payton lit into Wilson on the sideline, it was Webb standing next to Wilson and standing up for him. Those are mere moments in hundreds upon hundreds of hours of work over the course of the season, but high-profile ones nonetheless.

Wilson got benched with two games remaining in the season, then got an $85 million pink slip earlier this spring.

Now the challenge for Webb is much different. He’s got a trio of quarterbacks whom Payton likes but recently referred to collectively as “orphan dogs.”

All three are unproven at the pro level. Any could make a case for the starting job, though as the team’s first-round pick this spring Nix will likely be tough to unseat.

All will rely on Webb to be part teacher, part technician, and, most likely, part therapist.

“He just understands things in a different way because he literally just played the position two years ago,” Stidham said. “There’s things you can talk to him about where he totally gets it. He’s never cussing or screaming at you. He’s been there, done that. He’ll say, ‘Why did you do what you did?’ And if you have a reason for it, he’s able to understand those things.”

Payton had an open quarterback race once before as a head coach, in 2021 after Drew Brees retired, but this is essentially uncharted territory for him, too.

He’s been relaxed this spring. He speaks glowingly about Nix and positively about the others.

“Specifically to Bo, he’s doing really well. He’s picking it up,” Payton said Thursday. “There’s a lot that����ap going in. He’s throwing the ball extremely well.”

But what happens when the training camp mistakes and lulls arrive just as surely as baking August heat? What happens when the grind of the regular season starts to take its toll, with 14 straight games that count on the docket before the bye week arrives?

Nobody really knows. But this much is certain: Webb will be in the middle of all of it.

“You can’t teach experience,” Barkley said. “There’s little things that vets just know that you don’t even have to cover. At the same time, I think he’s up for the challenge and loves every aspect of that. But it does take away from how deep you can go. … When we were together with Josh (Allen in Buffalo), who had been in pretty much the same offense for four or five years, you start to work on little intricacies, little, little things that might make the difference in a toe-to-toe game. With young guys, you’re just making sure they can get the play-calls out and see the defense correctly.

“That����ap a challenge for anyone, but I think he thrives in that situation anyway.”

For a coach as young as Webb, there’s plenty more to consider. If Nix hits right away, Webb’s star will rise almost as quickly. It doesn’t take talented offensive minds long to climb the ranks, but that usually requires team success along with individual.

Barkley’s watched Webb work as a player and a coach. He figures his old running mate Dragon is up for the challenge.

“This is his love language,” Barkley said. “He just thrives off of relaying information and teaching guys and coaching. He’s in a perfect place right now.”

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