Can the Broncos 'make hay' with their pass rush this season? Why it matters -- and who could step up (2024)

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- If you're the Denver Broncos and the list of quarterbacks in your division starts with Patrick Mahomes, sacks are only part of the pass rush equation. So when defensive coordinator Vance Joseph considers what he'd like to see from Denver's pass rush this season, it isn't "Hey, why don't the Broncos have more sacks?" It's about the hay.

"I've said, I like our group," Joseph said. "We've got guys who are athletic, big-motor rushers. They're good run-game players. They've got experience, a good room. It's a room -- and I'll keep saying this -- that should make some hay. ... It's my job, our job, to do that."

For a decade, it was Von Miller's duty to pile up sacks, make explosive plays and be the hub of the Broncos' pass rush. But an ankle injury took away his 2020 season, and he was dealt to the Los Angeles Rams just before the trade deadline in 2021.

He was almost always focal point 'A' for opposing offenses to start their pass protection gameplan. But these 2024 Broncos have a different look, a collection of pass-rushers the team hopes and believes can create pressures and sacks from all parts of the formation.

Last season they had four players finish with at least 4.5 sacks, all of whom are back in 2024 -- Jonathon Cooper (a career-best 8.5), Nik Bonitto (8.0), Zach Allen (5.0) and Baron Browning (4.5). Bonitto missed two games last December with a knee injury, and Browning missed the first six games of the season after offseason knee surgery, along with another contest in December due to a concussion.

So better health is key to their pass-rushing hopes, along with the addition of defensive end John Franklin-Myers on the interior and rookie Jonah Elliss (third-round pick) at outside linebacker. The Broncos also want to see even more from Bonitto, whom Joseph has called "a special rusher."

Digging further into Bonitto's 2023 season reveals that 15.5% of his pass rushes resulted in a first pressure by a defender, good for third in the NFL and tucked between the likes of Micah Parsons, Bradley Chubb and Will Anderson Jr. Bonitto's rate was higher than Pro Bowl stalwarts such as Maxx Crosby, T.J. Watt, Chris Jones and Aidan Hutchinson. That certainly influenced opposing quarterbacks, but Bonitto would like more opportunities -- he had roughly 60% of Parsons' total rushes last season with 258. He'd also like to finish more of those pressures with sacks.

"I'm just trying to find any way to affect the quarterback," Bonitto said. "Obviously sacks would be nice, but against these top guys you want to get pressure on them as much as you can. You don't want them to have time to sit there all day to do what they want to do, so sacks, pressures, whatever it takes to affect the quarterback."

"[Bonitto] had a great year last year," Joseph said. "... Obviously, he's a natural rusher and it's my job to find spots for him to kind of showcase that."

Just like at quarterback, roster churn and coaching changes have affected the pass rush in recent years. The Broncos haven't had a player reach nine sacks since 2018, when Miller had 14.5 -- his last double-digit-sack season in Denver. And 2018 was also the last season the Broncos had two players finish a season with at least nine sacks, as Chubb added 12 of his own. Joseph was the Broncos' head coach that season and hopes to see the same kind of effectiveness up front.

To aid that, the Broncos acquired Franklin-Myers from the New York Jets during the draft to pair with Allen -- who they signed in free agency during the 2023 offseason -- to create interior issues for opposing offensive lines and more opportunities for the outside linebackers.

"[I] got here and understood the assignment," Franklin-Myers said. "They said attack, get off the ball and be disruptive. Shoot, sign me up."

"I think it's just aggressive and attacking," Allen said. "I think we're definitely there ... it's all three levels. Guys are really bought into that now. The new coaches we brought in really believe in that. We have everyone on board, which is what you want."

It is also what the Broncos will need. Beyond the two annual meetings with Mahomes and two more with the Chargers' Justin Herbert, this season's schedule includes Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow and Kirk Cousins.

"It's all about looking at the tackles, at the linemen, we're going against and trying to figure out how to beat them. It's all about affecting the quarterbacks," Bonitto said. "Something Bradley Chubb always told me my first year (2022) was sacks are going to come, just make sure your effort is there, your preparation is there, make sure you're always playing as hard you can play. ... I think that's all of us, but if we all do all that, I think the sacks will come."