Outside of his final year as head coach of the New Orleans Saints, Sean Payton has been lucky enough to avoid hosting a quarterback competition. After Drew Brees retired, Payton hung around the Big Easy one more year, watching Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill battle it out for the right to start at quarterback.

The Denver Broncos‘ quarterback competition this summer will only be the second of Payton’s head-coaching career. Rookie first-rounder Bo Nix is the favorite, but he’s competing with two veterans in Zach Wilson and Jarrett Stidham.

On Thursday, Payton offered an update on how competition is shaping up and he he’ll make the final decision when it comes to it.

“Look, we go by what we see,” Payton said. “We try to get them as many reps as possible. We’re rotating all of them right now. So Tuesday, ‘Stiddy’ (Stidham) ran with the ones, then Zach [Wilson], and then Bo. We’ll keep doing that right now.”

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As the incumbent who started the Broncos’ final two games last season, Stidham has been given the nominal nod to begin with the first-team offense, but all three quarterbacks are being rotated in with the ones. When it comes to knowledge of the system, Stidham’s year with Payton perhaps gives him that edge, but Nix impressed the Broncos, in part, by his ‘cramming’ ability and knack for picking things up quickly.

In Payton’s opinion, Nix is already ahead of the typical rookie quarterback when it comes to assimilation.

“He’s farther along than most,” Payton said of Nix. “We’re talking about a player who has played 61 games. He’s extremely smart. He’s picked it up very quickly.”

Wilson, the other newcomer to the Broncos quarterback room, was the former No. 2 overall pick out of BYU just a few short years ago. He arrived via trade only a few days before the 2024 NFL draft, bringing 33 career starts to the table.

Payton seems to be impressed by Wilson’s “live” arm.

“I like his experience,” Payton said of Wilson. “You can tell he’s played, and I feel like he has very live arm strength. He’s picking up the offense pretty quickly.”

This quarterback competition is in its early stages. And while Nix emerging as the winner seems fait accompli, Wilson and Stidham will have something to say about it. Each quarterback brings a unique skill set, knowledge, and experience to the table, and judging from the tone and content of Payton’s remarks on Thursday, he’s liked what he’s seen from the trio thus far.

“They come from different systems,” Payton said of the quarterbacks. “One is coming from college. One is coming from two or three NFL systems, and the other is coming from one system. They’re all in a race to learn this system. I would say—you guys watched the practice—they’re doing well.”

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