Through growing pains, bumps and bruises, Nix turned in quite an inaugural season, leading the Broncos to their first postseason appearance in nine seasons.

Well, the simple answer is we didn’t win a Super Bowl,” Nix said of his rookie year. “So there’s a lot to learn from, a lot to grow from.”

Denver put its first-round draft pick on the field immediately, and the payoff was the team’s first playoff appearance in nine years.