From three to two: Where the Broncos’ QB competition stands heading into preseason opener

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It is the nature of things in a football-mad region that lives, breathes and discusses every throw in the Denver Broncos‘ current quarterback competition. But when Broncos coach Sean Payton, an admitted and devout believer of the Bill Parcells school of tough love, decided to put all the team’s rookies at the bottom of their respective positions on the team’s first “unofficial” depth chart, it still sent people into — his words — “a tizzy.”

That’s because one of those rookies is quarterback Bo Nix, the No. 12 overall pick in this year’s draft. And Nix, even though he is in a heated battle with Jarrett Stidham for the team’s starting job, was listed last on the depth chart at quarterback.

“I couldn’t care less,” Nix said. “Couldn’t care less.”

As the Broncos approach Sunday’s preseason opener at the Indianapolis Colts (1 p.m. ET, Lucas Oil Field, NFL Network), Nix and Stidham continue to push through what is now a two-man race to be the starting quarterback. Zach Wilson was in a three-man rotation with the starters in the first week of training camp but was quickly moved out of that arrangement, as Nix and Stidham have split the first-team work evenly the past two weeks.

Payton has not said when he’ll decide on a Week 1 starter, but every practice throw has been scrutinized, collated and evaluated by almost everyone with a cellphone camera — fans and media alike. The coach tried to quickly wave off his depth chart demotion of the rookies and temper that frenzy.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, c’mon,” Payton said. “We just released the depth chart [Wednesday], all good. … I just didn’t want to make a big deal about the rookies all being at the end of the line and you guys all went into a tizzy. They’re all at the end of the line and obviously that will change.”

Because of Nix’s draft status — he was the Broncos’ highest-drafted quarterback since they took Jay Cutler at No. 11 in 2006 — and Payton’s praise of him throughout the offseason and training camp, there is a general feeling among the Denver faithful that the rookie will be the choice for the Sept. 8 regular-season opener in Seattle.

Yet Payton has said Stidham would get preseason snaps with the starting offense, which he confirmed on Friday when he announced that Stidham would start against the Colts. If Payton is poised to choose Nix quickly to turn the team’s focus toward the regular-season sooner, Sunday might be Stidham’s best chance to show what he can do with the starters, especially since Nix is slated to start Denver’s second preseason game. Stidham threw two touchdown passes and one interception over two starts for Denver at the end of last season.

“Definitely been a lot of fun,” Stidham said this week. “I’m not getting too caught up in what’s down the road necessarily … take it day by day, if you get caught up in past or future you kind of get caught up in the blender.”

When asked if he felt like he was having a good training camp, Stidham added: “I do, I felt like, quite honestly, I had a great spring … training camp so far has been really good.”

Wilson, whom the Broncos acquired in a trade with the New York Jets just before the draft, has mostly worked with the third-team offense since Payton trimmed the three-man rotation to two guys. But the former No. 2 overall pick has the strongest arm of the three QBs and has flashed the most willingness to push the ball down the field in practices.

“Obviously I don’t have control over that situation,” Wilson said of the quick move Payton made after only a handful of training camp practices. “I’m just going out here, trying to do my best every day … just trying to keep stacking the days.

“When you really sit down and think about it, I’ve really got no control over that. I think the worst you can do is let it affect you; the best you can do is just say I’m going to take what I got, do the best that I can to put my best foot forward.”

For his part, Payton has consistently said that the Broncos “have a plan” and that he’s only looking to make “the best decision.” The Broncos will have one joint practice with the Green Bay Packers next week, two days before the teams play in an Aug. 18 preseason game at Empower Field at Mile High, if he wants an additional view of things. But the focus right now is on Indianapolis.

“I want them to play, play fast,” Payton said when asked what he wants to see against the Colts on Sunday. “Assignment, execution, you want it to be clean. … Making sure we’re not missing assignments, you’re looking for clean execution.”