Earlier this week, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio compared Bo Nix to Baker Mayfield. Fangio was highly complimentary of the Denver Broncos’ quarterback, and also opined that Sean Payton had found his “quarterback of the future.”
On Thursday, Nix held his weekly presser at Broncos HQ. It didn’t take long for him to be asked about Fangio’s comments, specifically the Mayfield angle. His response may have thieved the joy right out of Fangio’s praise.
“Baker’s playing at a high level, so anytime you get compared to a good competitor like that, it’s great. But at the same time, I’m just in my lane doing what I can do to help our team win,” Nix said. “Comparison is sometimes the thief of all joy. Got to be careful comparing to other people or you’ll miss what’s right in front of you.”
In all honesty, Nix wasn’t saying anything negative; NFL players hate being compared to others, especially when it’s a quarterback. Mayfield is one of the most competitive humans alive, and Nix does share some traits, as Fangio observed.
“He’s a lot like Baker Mayfield. I think he might be Baker’s younger brother. Really good, really, really good. …I mean he’s a scrambler, he’s a competitor,” Fangio said this week, viaZack Berman of The Athletic. “He’ll throw the ball in tight places. He runs their offense really well. I think Sean’s [Payton] done a great job bringing him along and they got their quarterback for the future. They looked long and hard for many years and they’ve got one.”
It’s not that Nix isn’t appreciative of Fangio’s kind words. But he’s got a job to do and whether he plays like Mayfield has absolutely no bearing on whether the Broncos can go in and upset the Eagles at home.
That seems to be more the stance that Nix was taking. The Eagles are the defending World Champions, and Fangio’s defense has been known to confound many a quarterback.
When studying Fangio’s defense, though, Nix couldn’t help but notice the similarities to Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s scheme, which is ironic. Joseph went from being cut from the Wade Phillips cloth — man coverage and pressure, pressure, pressure — to implementing some of the Fangio concepts because that’s what the Broncos’ collection of personnel at the time knew best and were most comfortable with.
“I kind of feel like it’s similar to watching VJ’s. I think they come from the same tree,” Nix said of Fangio’s defense. “They obviously rely heavily on their front seven. They do a good job of flowing to the ball, getting pressure without bringing blitzes, and they keep everything in front of them in the back end.”
In the literal sense, no, Fangio and Joseph don’t spring from the same coaching tree. Heck, Fangio’s been in the league so long, he is the tree. And his brand of defense has been the trend in the NFL for a half-decade.
Fangio springs off the Jim Mora Sr. tree, spending his first few years under him in New Orleans back in the 1980s. Fangio served as the linebackers coach of the Saints for nine seasons, helping to berth the ‘Dome Patrol’ with Steve Sidwell as defensive coordinator.
Fangio also credits much of his defensive acumen to the influence of Dom Capers, his boss for the four years he spent as defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers back in the 1990s when the NFL debuted them as an expansion team.
Joseph really cut his teeth as the defensive backs coach of the Houston Texans, back when Phillips was their defenisive coordinator under head coach Gary Kubiak. Joseph would also spend a couple of years under Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati, which accounts for the majority of his coaching tree and influence.
The Bengals famously blocked Joseph for interviewing for the Broncos’ defensive coordintaor job in 2015, so Kubiak instead hired Phillips. Two years later, the Broncos needed a new coach, and John Elway hired Joseph to succeed Kubiak as head coach, while Phillips left for the Los Angeles Rams.
Bringing it back to Nix, he recognizes that Fangio isn’t going to make it easy on him and the Broncos to move the ball and score points. The key focus has to be taking what Fangio’s defense gives him, and when the opportunity to strike is there, Nix absolutely has to hit it.
“It’s going to be a challenge to find explosive plays, but at the same time, it’s not getting bored, continuing to do the same stuff over and over throughout the game,” Nix said. “When it’s there, you also have to be able to hit it. They’ll give us our opportunities, we’ve got to hit it, but at the same time, we’re going to have to work for them.”
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