TheDenver Broncos led the NFL in sacks in 2025, and much of that was due to their top-tier EDGE duo.
Denver had two players with double-digit sacks in 2024 and also had four total players with at least seven. The Broncos had nine more sacks than the next closest team and were clearly the best pass rush unit in the NFL.
Vance Joseph deserves a ton of credit for this defensive turnaround, but a lot of credit also goes to Sean Payton and George Paton for bringing the right players aboard to get this unit on the right track. Somehow, the defensive line could be even better in the 2025 NFL Season.
Part of that could be due to the team's young pass-rush duo of Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper, but just how good is this duo?
Broncos pass rush duo the league's best for 2025?
Matt Holder of Bleacher Report listed Bonitto and Cooper as the best pass-rush duo in the NFL for the 2025 season. Here is some of what he had to say:
"The Denver Broncos led the NFL with 63 sacks last season and by a wide margin, as the Baltimore Ravens finished second with 54, nine fewer than the Broncos. To put that in context, the difference between the Ravens and the third-place Dallas Cowboys was just two sacks.
Unsurprisingly, Denver's pass rush is led by its two edge defenders.
Bonitto enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2024, when he finished third in the league with 13.5 sacks to earn his first Pro Bowl bid and a second-team All-Pro selection. Meanwhile, Cooper ranked tied for 12th with 10.5 sacks and was just half a sack away from cracking the top 10."
Both Bonitto and Cooper had the best seasons of their careers, and the Broncos-third year player also notched 16 tackles for loss, 24 QB hits, and scored two defensive touchdowns. Jonathon Cooper has already become one of the most successful seventh-round picks in NFL history, as he signed an extension with the team.
Nik Bonitto is in the last year of his deal, so the hope is that Denver can get something worked out with him. Other huge players that have contributed to the team's top pass rush include Zach Allen, who had 40 QB hits last year, and John Franklin-Myers, who had seven sacks in 2024. The 2024 Broncos set the all-time franchise record with 63 sacks, even besting the 2015 defense, so the sky has to be the limit for this unit in 2025.