The Denver Broncos are unexpectedly facing the possibility of playing in 2026 without 1 of their top defenders, edge rusher Jonathon Cooper, who threw his NFL future and $60 million contract in doubt when he was arrested twice in 1 week this offseason.
Into that void, there might be another star on the rise in 2nd-year edge rusher Que Robinson, who The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider predicts will be the “Breakout Player” for the Broncos in 2026.
“Robinson, a 2025 fourth-round pick out of Alabama, played sparingly as a rookie on Denver’s deep defense, but he made a lasting impression during his appearance in the AFC Championship Game by chasing down Drake Maye and pulling down the Patriots quarterback by the shoulders for a sack,” Kosmider wrote on July 13. “Robinson was already trending toward a bigger role on the edge in Year 2, but that will especially be the case if Jonathon Cooper faces an NFL suspension following two June arrests.”
Robinson, 6-foot-4 and 243 pounds, might be facing the opportunity of a lifetime with Cooper out and no clear-cut answer on the roster behind him.
Broncos GM Had High Praise for Que Robinson
In February, Broncos general manager George Paton singled out Robinson, the No. 134 overall pick in 2025, as the player with the most upside out of last year’s rookie class.
While Robinson only played in 6 games as a rookie, all of them were in the 2nd half of the season. In the biggest moment of the year — the AFC Championship Game — he played his best game with 3 tackles, 1.0 sack, and 1 TFL in a 10-7 loss to the New England Patriots.
“The rookie poised for the biggest potential Year 2 jump might be Robinson,” ESPN’s Jeff Legwold wrote. “Paton said the 21-year-old edge rusher might ‘have the most upside of anyone in our draft class,’ because of his potential as a pass rusher as well as a high-value special teams player. After a regular season in which he had 12 tackles and a half-sack, Robinson had a sack of Drake Maye in the AFC title game.”
Que Robinson Could Follow Path of Super Bowl Hero
There is 1 NFL star who shows a path to what could be big-time riches for Robinson, who is playing on a 4-year, $5.05 million rookie contract.
Patriots star defensive lineman Milton Williams found himself buried on the depth chart with the Philadelphia Eagles behind stars and 1st-round picks for years, but when he finally got his opportunity in 2024, he made the most of it.
After a 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX in which Williams seemed like the best defensive player on the field at times, he signed a 4-year, $104 million free agent contract with the Patriots, and did so without even being a full-time starter.
To be clear, Robinson has done little in his football career to this point to indicate he has star potential.
In 5 seasons at the University of Alabama, Robinson was only a starter in his final season in 2024 — 5 starts in 9 games — and finished with 4.0 sacks. Robinson only played 379 career defensive snaps but played over 700 snaps on special teams.
From the DNVR Podcast in May 2025: “Que Robinson is a guy who really jumped out because of his jump off the line of scrimmage. Anytime you hear someone say he’s got a ‘Von Miller burst’ and here that comparison to an all time great it’s like well, he’s a fourth round pick, how could he have a Von Miller burst? But I don’t know man … it was impressive. His jump is so good.”
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