With Bo Nix named starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos, fans and media alike have wondered how the division of labor would shake out in preseason Game 3 vs. the Arizona Cardinals. Would Nix even play? If not, who would start and how would the snap count shake out?

Broncos head coach Sean Payton ended the suspense on Friday, revealing that Nix will not play, and that Jarrett Stidham will start the game, getting a few snaps, before giving way to Zach Wilson, who’ll play the rest of the contenst.

“You’ll see Stidham with the first series or so,” Payton said. “I’d like to see him get 8-12 plays, and then we’ll get a lot of work with Zach at some point in that first or early second quarter.”

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There are questions about which quarterback makes the most sense to serve as Nix’s backup this season. Stidham has been with Payton longer, but it would cost the Broncos $2.3 million more to keep him as the backup than it would Wilson.

Meanwhile, Wilson — the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft — has 33 NFL starts under his belt. Compared to Stidham’s four, from an experience perspective, Wilson is vastly more battle-tested.

However, Wilson is a bit more erratic. He’s a significantly more talented quarterback, but not as buttoned-down, and, thus, not as trustworthy as Stidham.

That’s why Stidham will start Game 3 and why Payton is probably leaning toward him being Denver’s QB2. But if injury were to befall Nix, Stidham could perhaps be more trusted to maintain some schematic stability, he doesn’t have the upside juice to truly thrive as an NFL starter.

Wilson busted out of New York, which means the odds that he’ll ever become a thriving NFL starter are slim. But that enormous ceiling is still there, and if there’s any NFL coach who could help Wilson come close to reaching it, it’s Payton, whose quarterback resume is long and distinguished, dating back to his time as offensive coordinator for the New York Giants in the early 2000s, which saw Kerry Collins morph into a franchise player.

The list of quarterback accomplishments on Payton’s NFL resume includes Collins, Quincy Carter, Tony Romo, Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater, Jameis Winston, and even Russell Wilson, whom Payton managed to extract a 26-touchdown season out of last year, despite it being an extremely poor fit for the venerated coach. So, if the Broncos had to turn to their QB2 this coming season, for some Football God-forsaken reason, Wilson is the one who could give Payton something to actually shoot for beyond a .500 finish at best.

‘Stiddy’ is a fail-safe, nothing more. And he costs nearly twice what Wilson would to keep rostered in 2024. However, based on the playing time plan Payton has laid out for Game 3, it would seem that Stidham is clear frontrunner for QB2.

It would take a Herculean break-out for Wilson to disabuse Payton of that notion. Stay tuned.

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