The first rookie quarterback to start at least 15 games for an NFL playoff team began his college career at Auburn before transferring. It’s possible the next QB to do that will have the same biographical line.

Dieter Brock left Auburn for Jacksonville State before he led the Los Angeles Rams to an 11-5 record and spot in the NFL playoffs in the 1985 season. But Brock wasn’t a typical NFL rookie: He spent 11 seasons building a Canadian Football Hall of Fame career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats before reaching the Rams.

If the Denver Broncos defeat the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday afternoon, Bo Nix will have qualified for the playoffs in his rookie season as an NFL quarterback. Nix joined Denver as a first-round draft choice from Oregon, where he played two seasons after spending three years at Auburn.

Brock and Nix also were Alabama high school stars – Brock with the Jones Valley Brownies and Nix with the Pinson Valley Indians.

The Broncos play the Cincinnati Bengals at 3:30 p.m. CST Saturday at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. NFL Network will televise the game.

With a 9-6 record, Denver could qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2015. In that season, the Broncos used a victory over Cincinnati in the next-to-last game of the regular season to lock up a playoff position after losing to 34-27 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the previous game. That Denver team went on to win Super Bowl 50.

If the Broncos beat the Bengals on Saturday in their next-to-last game of the regular season, they’ll have rebounded from a 34-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in their previous games to secure a playoff spot.

“It’s a big moment at the end of the year when you’re playing for something, you’re being competitive,” Nix said.
“I think realistically this is the time of year that you get ready and you want to be playing your best ball. It’s important. This time of year is the biggest. It’s the next most-important game. It usually all comes down to the ending and then you move on from there. But all the big games are at the end.”

Cincinnati has a 7-8 record. The Bengals aren’t out of the playoff picture, but they will be if they lose to the Broncos.

Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow leads the NFL with 4,229 passing yards and 39 touchdown passes. Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase has 108 receptions for 1,510 yards and 16 touchdowns to lead the NFL in all three categories.

“It’s fun playing against these quarterbacks, the MVP-caliber quarterbacks who are playing really good this year,” Nix said. “He’s having an awesome year. He’s put together some great weeks here recently. But that’s our defense. They get to go out there and handle that. Then it’s up to us to go out there and score and match or do better than what they do, so I think ultimately it comes down to execution. He’s going to have to play well. We’re going to have to play well. It’s going to come down to which offense executes, scores the most points, stays on the field, helps their defense out. It’ll be fun to watch him.”

Nix has played against Burrow and Chase before: On Oct. 26, 2019, they helped LSU defeat Nix and Auburn 23-20 in an SEC game on its way to an undefeated record and the CFP national championship.

“They were very talented back in the day,” Nix said. “You had (wide receiver Justin) Jefferson in that group, too. One of the top offenses really to ever play. That day at Auburn, we held them to their lowest scoring day, and we still lost. Hopefully, we can go out there, it’s going to be a similar type game. They’re professionals now. They’re on to the next level. So are we. It’s cool to follow their career, see where they are today. Obviously, I’ve been watching them because they’ve been doing really well in the league the past couple of years. Great players.”

Denver has two chances to wrap up a playoff position. If the Bengals beat the Broncos, Denver will have another opportunity to get the necessary victory in its regular-season finale against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Nix thinks the Broncos will bounce back from their loss to the Chargers.

“I think it’s our ability to not let one loss affect us,” Nix said on Tuesday about Denver’s success this season. “Don’t let one team beat us twice. I think that’s really important, especially in this league. You’re going to play tough games. You’re going to lose tough games. It’s the response I think that’s critical, especially for a team like ours who’s young. We haven’t made it to the playoffs in a while, and we have the ability to. It’s all about how we respond from the losses, and I think we’ve been able to do that well this year.

“We experienced a loss last week. None of us are very excited about it, so we’re excited to get back on the field. It’s just kind of that competitive mindset to where you knock us down, but we immediately want to get back up and go another round. That’s what we’re looking at. We had a great practice today — very focused, very sharp, tough practice. I expect us to respond in a good way, but I know they’re going to play good themselves.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.