The Denver Broncos have one of the more interesting matchups in Week 1 as they will be welcoming the Tennessee Titans to Empower Field. Of course, that means the NFL regular-season debut of No. 1 overall draft pick Cam Ward.
That will make history for the Broncos, as they have never faced a rookie quarterback in a season opener in team history. Jeff Legwold of ESPN details here that it has not happened since the merger in 1970, but even dating back to the AFL days, the Broncos never opened a season against a rookie QB.
In the first game in Broncos history, which was the first game in AFL history, the Broncos battled the Boston Patriots on September 9, 1960. The Patriots’ quarterback, Butch Songin, was new to the AFL, but he had played professionally in the American Association and the Canadian Football League before joining the Patriots at 36 years old.
Last season, Bo Nix was the first rookie quarterback to open the season for the team since John Elway did it in 1983. Now, they will be on the other side of it for the first time.
Nix went 26-of-42 for 138 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks last year. He also rushed for 35 yards and a touchdown. Though he completed a lot of passes, his 3.3 yards per completion were a big reason the Broncos lost that game.
The team hopes to throw a nasty defense at Ward and get his career off to a rocky start.
We didn’t see much from Ward in the preseason as he completed just 10 of his 19 pass attempts for 145 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He didn’t show much with his feet either, rushing for one yard on one attempt.
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It’s quite possible that the Titans were playing things very close to the vest and don’t want teams to be able to see much of what Ward is capable of, making it tougher to prepare for him. In recent years, we have seen rookie quarterbacks Jayden Daniels and C.J. Stroud come firing out of the gate and having excellent rookie seasons. The Broncos will need to be wary of Ward doing the same.
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