ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — When Nick Bonito was selected by the Broncos with the final pick of the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the last thing on his mind was how Denver came to own the pick it used to select the outside linebacker out of the University of Oklahoma.
He did not think about the origin of the choice at any other time either. Not until a reporter approached him with a question last week, before the game with the Kansas City Chiefs in which Bonito starred?
Did you know that the pick the Broncos used to select you was acquired by trading Von Miller?
“I didn’t know that,” Bonito said, raising an eyebrow curiously.
The Broncos traded Miller, the franchise’s all-time leader and surefire future Hall of Famer, to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021. The Broncos got back a second- and third-round pick, a huge return for which general manager George Paton had. Able to negotiate after agreeing to pay the bulk of Miller’s remaining salary. The trade gave the Broncos a combined four picks in the second and third round, at the time, in the 2022 draft, along with their first-round pick. Without that additional capital, Paton said, it would have been difficult for the Broncos to agree to a trade in March 2022 in which they acquired quarterback Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks for two first-round picks and two second-round picks.
The Wilson era was short-lived, as the veteran posted an 11-19 record in two seasons before being released last spring. But Bonitto turned out to be more than just a consolation prize in a blockbuster deal that helped the Rams win the Super Bowl. Sunday’s sack of third-year linebacker Patrick Mahomes was his seventh in eight games. No Broncos player has had a stretch like that since Miller had nine sacks in eight games in 2018 and Bradley Chubb had 10 sacks in a similar span that season. When Bonito recorded a sack in six straight games earlier this season, he became the first player since Miller to pull off that kind of stretch.
“He definitely made that leap,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “He’s getting more snaps. He’s getting more snap shots. I think the key for Nick was playing with the run and running to him. And he’s at the right weight now. He’s a guy who plays with a real good curve. He can bend his body and his resolve. He’s got a lot in his locker as far as With his quick passing, what he wants to do and how he sets someone up he really helped us.”
Bonito created a career-high six pressures against the Chiefs on Sunday, and three of them were “quick pressures,” according to Next Gen Stats, where the pressure was applied in 2.5 seconds or less. No one in Denver can compare to Miller’s production. He was a first-team All-Pro three times during his 10-plus seasons with the Broncos. He was the MVP of Super Bowl 50 after a gifted performance that led to the franchise’s third championship. But from a pure trait perspective — quick twitch, ability to curl around the rim — there have been shades of the No. 58 in some of the No. 15’s performances this season.
“He’s a guy that I’ve always considered the pinnacle of what a great rusher is and is the standard of what I want to be,” Bonito said of Miller after the 2022 draft. “Just watching him, I see a lot of things he did in the game — (those are) things I want to accomplish.
Much of Bonitto’s jump in Year 3 can be attributed to opportunity. He’s playing a career-high 58 percent of Denver’s defensive snaps (52 percent in 2023; 35 percent in 2022), a product of his ability to provide better support in the run game. Much of his growth in this area has come down to his size. Bonito admits that he struggled as a beginner with the huge caloric overload that the Broncos wanted to put down.
“Even now, Ms. Emma (Thake, the team’s performance nutrition manager) will attack me sometimes,” Bonito said.
However, the size of the bonito has increased. He’s also gained a better understanding of how teams try to exploit him in the run game.
“Gaining strength has helped, but it’s just reps,” Bonito said. “When I was in college, I didn’t go against a lot of NFL-style offenses. It was a lot different. So getting more reps under my belt and seeing what teams were sending me helped a lot.”
The improvement has helped Bonito become a three-touchdown rusher, which has turned into more pass-rushing opportunities. More opportunities to unleash a dynamic first step that has given decent tackles this season. Bonitto has taken advantage in more of those situations as well. Last season, he converted 17 percent of his pressures into sacks, according to TruMedia. That number has jumped to 22.5 percent this season (seven sacks on 31 pressures). Teammate Zach Allen has watched Bonito at times this season and wondered, “How did he get there so fast?”
During Bonito’s final season of high school at St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida, his defensive line coach was none other than Hall of Fame pass rusher Jason Taylor. Bonito said the lessons Taylor learned during that season were invaluable as he prepared to make the leap to the Big 12. But perhaps more important than anything else was the reassurance that he was on the right track in his quest to become an NFL pass rusher. Bonito’s father, Vince, told a reporter in 2022 that Taylor said during his only season with Bonito that the young pass rusher was far ahead of where Taylor was at the same age.
With increased confidence and strength, that talent is blossoming for Bonito in his third season in the NFL.
“The three outside players I played with were Chandler (Jones), Haason Reddick and Nick, not even in that order,” Allen said. “I think you can defend Nick long term. When I was playing with Chandler, he was in his final years. Haason was in his fourth or fifth year. And I think it would be really cool with Nick to see where he is at the same point in comparison. From a point of view Athletically, I’ve always said Hasson is the best athlete I’ve ever played with as an outside guy but Nick – and frankly, Coop (Jonathan Cooper), too, is athletically a freak – he’s just a real natural bend, I’ll put him out there.
Redick had seven combined sacks over his first three NFL seasons with the Cardinals before breaking out with a 12 1/2-sack campaign during his fourth year in 2020. Bonito, who had eight sacks in 2023, could be on a similar path. . He and Cooper are on pace to become the first Broncos pass rushers to reach 10 sacks since Miller (14 1/2) and Chubb (12) combined for 26 1/2 in 2018.
This duo talked a lot that season about how they fueled the internal rivalry for both players. Bonito and Cooper have felt a similar push in their racing during the season. Cooper beat Bonito for the team to unseat the crown by half a takedown last season. This season, Bonito led by half a sack entering Sunday’s pivotal game against the Atlanta Falcons.
“We are super competitive and we will continue to push each other,” Cooper said this week. “That’s my brother, man. We’ve been playing together for three years now. We’re going to make it hard for each other. I get mad every time he hits me. He gets mad every time I hit him. It’s just back and forth, and we’re going to make it a close contest until the end, certainly.
The Miller deal certainly worked out well for the Rams, even if it turned out to be just a half-season rental. Less than four months after acquiring him, the franchise was celebrating its second championship. Miller had four sacks during the postseason, including two in a 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl. But with every quick dash Bonitto makes into the opponent’s backfield, it becomes clear that the Broncos got a gem in the bargain as well.
(Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
