The Broncos are getting crowded near the top of the NFL’s annual Top 100 list, and the latest wave adds two more familiar names: linebacker Nik Bonitto at No. 32 and quarterback Bo Nix at No. 59, according to Bobby Kownack of NFL.com.
Bonitto’s spot feels like a natural fit. He’s been climbing fast over the last couple of seasons, stacking up Pro Bowl nods, finishing in the top five in sacks more than once, and showing up on this list multiple times since 2024. He’s also been the face of what Kownack described as the Broncos’ accelerated rebuild, with Denver’s defense spending much of the season chasing the NFL’s all-time sack record before fading late.
The production backed it up, too. Bonitto added two forced fumbles and a sack in the playoffs, and his regular-season numbers were strong across the board: a league-best quick-pressure rate of 11.1 percent among defenders with at least 200 pass-rush snaps, plus the second-highest pressure rate in the league at 20.2 percent. He also tied for fourth with 80 pressures while rushing on just 397 of Denver’s 700 dropbacks, which came out to 56.7 percent.
Nix’s placement is a little more debatable, but the resume still has plenty of weight behind it. He may not have the pure numbers of the quarterbacks who usually sit near the top of this list, but he kept finding ways to win for Denver. He threw more passes than any other quarterback in the league, helped lead the Broncos to the AFC’s top seed, and delivered another playoff win in only his second season.
What pushed him onto the list was the late-game work. Nix led the Broncos on a league-high seven game-winning drives last season, according to the writer, and he also outdueled Josh Allen in Denver’s division-round thriller. The offense had its uneven stretches, but when the moment got tight, Nix kept dragging Denver across the finish line.
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Bo Nix Has A Clear Preference For Denvers New Offensive Setup
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Sean Payton has backed the sideline setup, and Bo Nix has made clear he prefers it too, which gives that option plenty of internal support as the Broncos settle into a new offensive structure. The discussion fits a familiar Broncos thread, since past coaches have also favored different spots based on how they wanted to manage the game. For now, the question is less about philosophy than finality, and Webbs choice will be one of the first real tells of how this offense wants to function when the games start mattering. [Read more 🡒]
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The comparison he reached for was the Chiefs, whose own recent slide serves as a warning sign for any contender trying to stay ahead of the curve. From Denvers perspective, the pressure only gets louder because the opening stretch of the schedule leaves little room to ease in, with a run of opponents that could quickly test whether last seasons resilience was a real step forward or just a hard-to-replicate run of good fortune. [Read more 🡒]
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Payton said the early camp grind brings its own challenges, and he has already pointed to the work that happens before players ever step on the field as part of avoiding those strains and groin or hamstring problems. The concern now is how quickly the Broncos can stabilize things, especially with the position groups they are trying to evaluate and the health questions that keep surfacing while camp is still in its early stages. [Read more 🡒]