EVANSTON, Ill. – When Bo Nix was selected by the Broncos with the No. 12 pick in the 2024 draft out of Oregon, Alec Sussman jumped out of his chair. 

Sussman, who turns 16 on Sunday and is from Glencoe, Ill., became both a fan of the Oregon Ducks and the Broncos about 10 years ago. And here was the quarterback going from his favorite college team to his favorite NFL team. 

“I remember jumping around and screaming when the Broncos drafted him,’’ Sussman said. “I was so happy.” 

On Saturday, for Alec’s birthday, Sussman’s father, Eric Sussman, plopped down $250 apiece for a pair of tickets to attend fourth-ranked Oregon’s 34-14 win at Northwestern before 12,023 fans. Alec showed up wearing a Nix Oregon replica No. 10 jersey and cheered the Ducks on from the 40-yard line at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium, a temporary facility where seats are very pricey when marquee teams visit. 

“When I was (6), I remember watching Super Bowl 50 and I just fell in love with the Broncos,’’ Alec said of their 24-10 win over Carolina in February 2016. “And I’ve been an Oregon fan since I was little. I just grew up loving their (green and yellow) colors, and Bo Nix is my favorite quarterback ever.” 

Nix played for the Ducks in 2022 and 2023, which included him throwing for an astounding 4,508 yards with 45 touchdowns and just three interceptions in 2023. He is well remembered for what he did in college. 

At Saturday’s game, there were a smattering of fans decked out in Nix jerseys. Another was Josh Hardin, 27, of North Aurora, Ill., who has long been a Ducks fan. 

“Watching Bo play for two years at Oregon was a real treat,’’ Hardin said from a front-row seat on the 20-yard line, for which he paid $200. “And he’s doing really well with (head coach) Sean Payton in Denver. He’s on track to maybe be a Pro Bowler in a few years.” 

Hardin didn’t deny, though, that he wasn’t thrilled with Nix’s showing in a 20-12 home win over Tennessee in the opener last Sunday, when he completed 25 of 40 passes for 176 yards but threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. After all, Hardin has Nix on his fantasy football team. 

“I was a little disappointed, but it is what it is,’’ Hardin said. “But he’ll do better (on Sunday at Indianapolis).” 

Nix, 25, has indeed vowed to “do better” against the Colts. But Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said before Saturday’s game that “what matters is he is 1-0.” 

Nix in 2024 helped lead the Broncos to a 10-7 record, their first winning season since 2016, and to their first playoff berth since they won Super Bowl 50 in the 2015 season. Before that, he did plenty of winning at Oregon, helping lead the Ducks to records of 10-3 in 2022 and 12-2 in 2023. 

“He’s an outstanding person in addition to a football player,’’ Mullens said. “We feel blessed to have had him (at Oregon). … He’s obviously a mature young man and an outstanding leader. He just set the tone. Incredible work ethic, incredible focus.” 

Mullens raved about what Nix did both on and off the field at Oregon after he had spent his first three college years at Auburn. 

“He ran some youth camps,’’ Mullens said. “He would always raise his hand to help us out and in the community (in Eugene, Ore.). He and (wife) Izzy both immediately embraced our community, which our community loves and appreciates.” 

Nix is the latest in a long line of quarterbacks to star at Oregon, going all the way back to Pro Football Hall of Famers Norm Van Brocklin in the late 1940s and Dan Fouts in the early 1970s. In more recent years, the Ducks have had Marcus Mariota, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2014 and is now a backup for the Washington Commanders, Justin Herbert, now a star for the Los Angeles Chargers, and Dillon Gabriel, now a Cleveland Browns backup. 

Herbert also wore No. 10 at Oregon, and there were more Herbert jerseys on hand Saturday than Nix jerseys. Then again, Herbert was a starter at Oregon for four seasons, from 2016-19, and he so far is more established in the NFL, having made a Pro Bowl since joining the Chargers in 2020. 

“I would buy (a Nix jersey) if they weren’t 95 dollars each,’’ said Josh Foy, 20, of Gilberts, Ill., an Oregon fan who donned a No. 10 Herbert jersey on Saturday. “But I think the Broncos are going to be really good with Bo Nix.” 

Nix was coached at Oregon by Dan Lanning, whose Ducks raised their record to 3-0 with the win. While he is obviously busy during the season, Lanning makes it a point to keep up with Nix. 

“I still talk to Bo regularly on what he’s doing (in the NFL),’’ Lanning said. “I’m not surprised at all with the success he’s had. … (The Broncos) are lucky to have an unbelievable leader and a great person in Denver.” 

Mullens made note of there being an Oregon to Denver pipeline. The Broncos also have on the roster from the Ducks center Alex Forsyth, a seventh-round pick in 2023, and wide receiver Troy Franklin, a fourth-round selection in 2024. And on the practice squad is guard Calvin Throckmorton, who first entered the NFL with New Orleans as an undrafted free agent when Payton was the Saints’ coach. 

As for Alec, he follows all the Ducks on Denver’s roster. But the guy he’s really watching closely is Nix. 

“Give Sean Payton a bit more time to develop him and he’ll certainly be something amazing,’’ he said. 

What I’m hearing 

–With the Colts having a new defensive coordinator this season in Lou Anarumo, that has resulted in some extra work for the Broncos. Anarumo had that position for Cincinnati from 2019-24, which included the Bengals defeating Denver 30-24 in overtime in Week 17 last December. “(Anarumo) brings in a lot of different looks and so it’s tough to prepare for, especially early in the season,’’ said Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz. “We watch a lot of Cincinnati tape (from Anarumo’s tenure) but also watch a lot of Indianapolis.” Meinerz said that includes Colts tape from last season to look at their personnel, as well as from the 2025 preseason and their 33-8 win over Miami last Sunday. 

–Michael Huff, a Broncos safety in 2015 who is now assistant director of player development at the University of Texas, told The Denver Gazette that cornerback Jahdae Barron, a Denver rookie from Texas, is “trying to get in a movie with Matthew McConaughey, the Hollywood star and big Longhorns fan.” Barron, who is close to McConaughey, doesn’t deny that is the case but said, “I’m focused right now. After the season.” 

What I’m seeing 

–Broncos defensive lineman Zach Allen has paid close attention to what looks to be a resurgence for Colts quarterback Daniel Jones, who struggled the past two seasons with the New York Giants and was released after having some good moments with them from 2019-22, earning him a four-year, $180 million extension. “He’s always been a really smart player with a great arm,’’ Allen said of Jones, who against the Dolphins completed 22 of 29 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown and ran for two scores. “He’s got a lot of weapons around him right now, and he’s just playing really good football. So, it’s going to be tough.” 

–When Mike Shanahan, who coached Denver from 1995-2008 and is the father of San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan, isn’t attending a Broncos or San Francisco game, he has an ideal setup at his Denver-area home. “I usually watch four games at a time,’’ said Shanahan, who won Super Bowls with the Broncos in the 1997 and 1998 seasons. “I follow all the teams closely. I’ve got a pretty good-sized TV where I can watch four at once.”