Last season, the Denver Broncos could reasonably convince themselves that they were one Bo Nix broken ankle away from a Super Bowl. Denver was the AFC’s top seed and took down the Buffalo Bills in an overtime thriller before losing the AFC Championship Game without Nix, and it entered this season with high expectations.
However, the Broncos are just 2-2 headed into the Week 5 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, and Nix, whether affected by his January ankle injury or not, has struggled. Nix’s struggles have extended down the rest of Denver’s roster, as Courtland Sutton, who’d been the team’s WR1 for years before Jaylen Waddle’s arrival in the winter, has struggled mightily so far.
Sutton is still rostered in 77% of Yahoo Sports fantasy leagues, but fantasy managers have lost faith in him to start, as he starts in just 23% of leagues. He still has time to turn his season around, but it’s far from a guarantee that he will.
Results and Usage
In every season of Sutton’s career other than 2020, when he tore his ACL in Week 2, he reached the 100-yard threshold within the first four weeks of the season, and it often took him just two games. However, he’s only hauled in nine of his 22 targets for 87 yards, fallingbehind Waddle in the team’s pecking order and garnering just one more target than running back RJ Harvey. He ranks fourth-to-last in success rate among qualified wide receivers, and no quarterback has recorded a lower passer rating when throwing to any pass-catcher than Nix when throwing to Sutton (12.9).
By advanced numbers, he fares no better. Among qualified wideouts, Sutton ranks just 83rd among 115 players by Pro Football Focus’ grades, the worst mark of his career. He’s still produced 2.5 yards of separation per targeted route and managed 0.6 more yards after the catch than expected, better figures than he posted in 2025, but his production has been lackluster because his offensive context has changed. Sutton simply hasn’t made himself a more enticing option than Waddle, who’s averaged 0.2 more yards of separation per targeted route, and he hasn’t helped himself with his poor run blocking.
Future Outlook
In large part, this depends on Nix. The third-year signal-caller has completed just 60.0% of his passes for 819 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions, recording his lowest success rate, fewest yards per attempt and per game, and lowest passer rating and QBR of his career. Nix also hasn’t been much of a threat with his legs, perhaps a psychological effect of his injury in January. Despite averaging fewer intended air yards per passing attempt than any quarterback in the league, Nix’s on-target rate is by far the lowest of his career and the lowest among qualified passers, and he ranks sixth-to-last in completion percentage over expectation. Even Waddle hasn’t been consistently fantasy-viable while playing alongside him. Sutton also has a deeper average target than Waddle, so Nix’s conservative passes don’t align with his skill set.
To be fair, Davis Webb runs a fairly pass-first offense, ranking 13th in passing attempts so far and just 27th in rushing attempts, so at least Sutton isn’t competing for snaps with ineffective running backs Harvey and J.K. Dobbins. However, the Broncos’ offensive line has posted the fifth-worst pass-blocking grades, not giving sufficient time for Sutton’s routes to develop, and Nix has had the second-worst offensive grades while under pressure in each of the past two seasons. Nix has also been better on throws towards the sideline this season, while Sutton has historically been more effective on throws between the numbers.
Even against the disappointing Los Angeles Chargers, Sutton isn’t worth starting. Defensively, the Chargers have more average than bad, as they’ve allowed the 15th-most FPTS per game to opposing wide receivers. Los Angeles has been good at forcing turnovers, which could be a problem for Nix, and while it hasn’t registered a ton of hurries overall, its pass rush is solid enough to force Nix to get the ball out of his hands quickly. Cornerback Tarheeb Still is off to a strong start, ranking 13th among 103 qualified corners, and Donte Jackson has been above-average as well. On throws up the middle, Sutton will also have four-time All-Pro safety Derwin James to contend with.
