Ex-teammate says Broncos’ RJ Harvey, Bo...

In brutal Alabama summers, the Auburn Tigers split themselves up for sprints, each position running with their own. Linemen. Quarterbacks. Skill-position guys.

Except a young Bo Nix, at the time trying to find himself in SEC ball, defected. He’d jump in next to the wideouts. He wanted to push.

And the quarterback, as former Auburn receiver Kobe Hudson remembered, won almost every sprint.

“During the summertime, he always felt like, ‘Y’all gon’ be able to count on me during the season,’” Hudson said of Nix. “So, I just took that and just ran with it.”

Years later, after Hudson became Nix’s leading receiver at Auburn in 2021, the pass catcher found another kindred soul down in Florida. In brutal Orlando summers, the UCF Knights would assemble for sprints, and running back RJ Harvey paced the pack. He and Hudson would wheel side-by-side, on each other’s heels. Pushing each other, so that 90-degree fourth quarters would feel like first quarters.

“Always that guy that was out in front, every time — the fourth quarter, to just lead, like, ‘Y’all can count on me,’” Hudson said.

“So kinda, he and Bo are the same guy,” Hudson continued. “Bo’s just a little more outgoing than RJ. But, fourth quarter, those are two guys y’all will be able to count on.”

Ask most anyone on this Earth who knows Harvey, and they’ll tell you the Broncos’ second-round pick isn’t the type to say much. But the UCF back didn’t hesitate when asked during rookie minicamp why he wanted to be drafted by Denver.

“Bo Nix,” Harvey said with an ear-splitting grin. “I love how he plays.”

The rookie running back and sophomore QB took the field together for the first time this past week at OTAs, the foundation of head coach Sean Payton’s offense for the foreseeable future. Fireworks didn’t exactly set off in Dove Valley, beyond a couple of nice quick-hit reps from Nix to Harvey out of the backfield. But Hudson, an undrafted free-agent signee with the Carolina Panthers, feels the two will “excel together,” as he told Harvey himself.

Hudson played three years with Harvey at UCF and roomed with him his senior year. They’ve talked nearly every day after OTAs. And naturally, the conversation turned to Nix.

“He just told me he loved Bo,” Hudson said. “I knew he would love Bo.”

The key to Nix and Harvey’s connection in Denver’s backfield will be Harvey’s ability to blossom in the passing game. The back never caught more than 22 passes in any season of his college career. Still, Payton and general manager George Paton drafted him seeing a playmaker in space, with upside concealed within the rigidity of the Knights’ offense. And Harvey, Hudson vouched, had “some of the best hands on the team” at UCF.

Nix, even, dropped a massive hint as to Harvey’s utilization at his Thursday presser.