3 Reasons Doubts Misunderstood Denver Broncos OLB Nik Bonitto

A few years have passed since the incident Denver Broncos They drafted outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, but he has reached double-digit sacks in 12 games this season and has been the most consistent sack player on the roster. But when he was drafted, many doubted what Bonitto could do in the NFL.

Let’s take a look at why there were doubts about Bonitto and why those concerns were proven wrong.

The first reason many people doubted him was because Bonitto went for something that was out of his control. That would be the plan. At Oklahoma, the Sooners used a slanted defensive front that made things extremely easy for the front seven.

He outplayed offensive linemen almost immediately, and over the years few players have found success in the NFL coming from slanted defensive fronts. Slant fronts attack spaces with speed and athleticism, which has served Bonitto well but has raised questions about his ability to hold up when working straight in a one-on-one block.

Early in his NFL career, those concerns were confirmed. Bonitto had difficulty gaining reps when working directly on blocks, but had great success as an unblocked pass rusher. He didn’t have the pass-rushing arsenal to take advantage of blockers, but he had the athleticism to outpace them to the edges and run around them. Much of his success in the 2023 season came from doing just that.

But this year this is not the case. Bonitto is beating blockers with improvements to his pass-rushing arsenal. He still has elite athleticism to beat blockers on the perimeter, as he has many times this season.

But if a blocker tackles Bonitto, the rep won’t end like it did early in his NFL career. The great thing for the Broncos, and the scary thing for their opponents, is that he still has room to grow and become even more dangerous as a passer.

Bonitto has no counter moves and counter moves in general. If he can improve those meters, especially an inside spin move that will adjust how quick and athletic he is to challenge for the belt, he could become an elite pass rusher in the NFL.

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Many people, including me, greatly exaggerated his issues against the candidacy. While he could make some plays against the run in college and early in his NFL career, they were few and far between.

Bonitto was responsible for 95% (or more) of the running moments and opponents would take advantage of that. Oklahoma’s sloping front obscured some of the problems but did not hide them completely.

While Bonitto still hasn’t developed into an excellent run defender, he isn’t the liability he once was, as that remains the key issue in his game. He’s not a 50/50 defender, but he’s getting close and will likely be an 80/20 or 75/25 defender, with an 80 or 75 downside. The truth is, he may never be a great run defender, but that’s okay.

Bonitto is a passer and a difference maker. He is one of four pass rushers with double-digit sacks at this point in the season, tied with Myles Garrett, behind Danielle Hunter’s half a sack and Trey Hendrickson’s 1.5 sacks.

The Broncos defense is doing an excellent job of covering Bonitto as a run defender due to the scheme and some of the players around him stepping up in significant ways. He doesn’t have the lows as a run defender like he did in his first two seasons, but his highs are higher, which shows his progress.

The Broncos and Bonitto could begin negotiations for a new contract after this season, as a player must have been in the league three years for that to happen. The question is: What can Bonitto achieve with a new contract?

At the rate he’s going, he could push for an annual average of $20 million, but he’ll likely find himself in the third or fourth tier of forward contracts rather than the $28-plus million first tier or $22 million second tier. plus million. Whatever the case, many draft analysts were wrong about Bonitto in the NFL.

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