Broncos Blanked on NFL Preseason Lists for DL, Edge Rushers

Getty Denver Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper.

This is the season of speculation for NFL teams and pundits. Without games, that means lists upon lists of where teams stack up in every way possible. Nothing is too small to dissect.

It could also end up being the season for motivation when it comes to the Denver Broncos, who were completely left off a pair of lists from PFF ranking the Top 32 interior defenders and Top 32 edge rushers in the NFL headed into the 2024 season.

If you’re counting at home, that’s 64 players and no Broncos. None.

Denver didn’t have a player in the Top 30 in the NFL in sacks in 2023, with outside linebacker Jonathan Cooper leading the team with 8.5 sacks.

The Broncos also had the third-worst rushing defense in the NFL, giving up an average of 137.1 rushing yards per game.

Broncos Have Gone Without Elite Pass Rushers

The Broncos haven’t had a player finish the season with double-digit sacks since 2018, when they had two with outside linebackers Von Miller (14.4 sacks) and Bradley Chubb (12.0 sacks).

Miller was an NFL All-Pro selection that season and Chubb made the PFWA All-Rookie Team, but the Broncos finished the season with a 6-10 record. Denver hasn’t made the postseason since winning the Super Bowl following the 2015 season and haven’t had a winning record since 2016.

Miller, the Super Bowl MVP in the Broncos’ win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50, was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in Nov. 2021, helping lift the team to a Super Bowl win that season. One year later, Chubb was traded to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a package that included a 2023 first-round pick and 2023 fourth-round pick.

Cooper was a 7th round pick out of Ohio State in 2021 who had just 4.5 sacks through his first two seasons before having a breakout season in 2023 with 8.5 sacks — his first season as a full-time starter. It was also the Broncos’ highest single-season sack total since Miller’s 14.5 sacks in 2018.

Outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, who was second on the team with 8.0 sacks in 2023, also returns.

Broncos Drafted Edge Rusher Early in 2024

The Broncos hope they added help to their pass rush in the 2024 NFL draft when they selected Utah outside linebacker Jonah Elliss in the third round (No. 76 overall).

Elliss is the son of two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Luther Elliss, who ended his career with the Broncos in 2004, and the younger brother of Atlanta Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss, New England Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss and free-agent defensive tackle Noah Elliss, who played the last two seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jonah Elliss, 6-foot-2 and 248 pounds, was a consensus Associated Press All-American in 2023 with 12.0 sacks and 16 TFL in just 10 games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. He was also a two-time All-Pac-12 selection.

“Jonah plays with a motor that exposes blockers who aren’t finishers,” NFL analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “He doesn’t have enough sand in his pants to anchor and hold an NFL edge in the run game but he assaults the pocket with varied approaches and a good inside spin counter. He needs more muscle but could become a rotational 3-4 rush linebacker with above-average special teams qualities.”