A No Bull look at the Denver Broncos defensive line roster, its strengths, weaknesses, and what we can expect George Paton and Sean Payton to target this offseason
With the Denver Broncos offseason kicking off, it is a great time to step back, take a look at the roster, and play a little armchair GM leading up to all of the excitement of possible free-agent signings, trades, and of course the NFL Draft.
Let me give a tip of the hat to www.footballguys.com for their information on snap percentages and www.overthecap.com for their information on current contracts for all players.
All of this is my personal opinion based on my tried-and-true eye test of what I’ve seen from these players on the field this season. For the sake of brevity, I’ll be leaving out guys who didn’t see the field in any significant way in 2024 and most Unrestricted Free Agents.
Enjoy the discussion, join the subjective debate, and share your thoughts (good or bad) in the comments.
We’re kicking this series off by examining the defensive front and determining what holes the Broncos should look to fill in the 2025 NFL offseason.
Player Rating Key:
- Project / developmental – lacking necessary skills to contribute as it stands today
- Backup quality – Can play, but isn’t a guy you want out there every snap
- Average starter – Doesn’t bring anything special to the table, but can do the job
- Good starter – An above-average talent
- Blue chip player – Top 10 talent in the NFL at what he does
Unit Rating Key:
- Critical Need – lack of talent at starter and depth
- Lacking at least one starter
- Mediocre need
- Solid talent and depth
- Elite talent level
Interior Linemen
Zach Allen – 5
Zach Allen came out of the gates looking like an All-Pro interior lineman and finished the season getting that much-deserved accolade. He’s a force to be reckoned with and the key part of the defensive front that allowed the scheme to set a record for sacks even if it wasn’t him leading the charge on the stat sheet.
A player like Zach Allen is irreplaceable and rare. He’s cast in the mold of a player like J.J. Watt. Allen is a relentless physical player who has a seemingly endless reserve of endurance to draw on throughout a football game.
Allen is smart, and athletic, and uses his hands at an excellent level to fight off opponents and get pressure in the backfield or collapse the pocket. Because of this, he draws a lot of double-teams up front which opens up our edge to one-on-one opportunities.
This is a contract year for Allen as his contract has 3 voided years coming up after this season. I would love to see the Broncos extend Allen, though if they don’t it will be due to how many roster holes they need to fill. If that’s the path chosen, I can see Allen getting the franchise tag in 2026.
John Franklin-Meyers – 4
John Franklin-Meyers was a player I was very excited to get in free agency last season. He’s on a short two-year contract that ends after next season, but the guy is a solid vet who you can rely on to hold the fort in the middle of the defensive line.
He’s a solid starter and part of a rotation up front. He makes splash plays in the way of sacks and tackles for loss at a high rate for an interior lineman. Franklin-Meyers isn’t a guy like Allen that can stay on the field for most plays which is the main reason to knock him down a point on my ratings. He’s a very good player in his prime though and contributes with size and power up front to help in run defense while having good burst to create pressure against the pass.
Malcolm Roach – 3
Malcolm Roach is a solid backup lineman for the Broncos. He’s another guy who has a contract year coming up but is much cheaper than our starting interior linemen. His forte from what I’ve seen is his play against the run. He’s a big part of our rotation and has made plays from time to time. The big thing I’d say from what I recall of his season was that he was no liability. He was mostly able to hold down his gap(s) and was able to impact plays while not getting more than 50% of the snaps in most games.
Unit Rating – 3
I honestly want to give this unit a 5 based solely on Zach Allen being part of the roster. He’s just that good.
But at the end of the day, I’m looking at unit ratings based on a whole, not one player’s potential. Our starters have us in really good shape up front. It gets fuzzy when you look at the depth though and a look at the future.
A big part of our rotation was D.J. Jones who is an unrestricted free agent this season and as an aging vet isn’t a player I think the Broncos should bring back. I like Roach and think he’s the kind of vet who can be given a bigger role and opportunity to grow in 2026.
We also saw a healthy dose of Jordan Jackson as a rotational player. I didn’t see enough potential in him to really say much and while we may see him competing for a spot in training camp, I doubt he’s a name to watch.
This rating is impacted by the contracts expiring of our starters after next season and the lack of rotational depth. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Broncos add someone to develop either from free agency or the draft this season just to open up options for the future.
Edge
Nik Bonitto – 4
I love seeing players who blossom with a team, grind it out year after year, and keep taking a solid step forward each season. Bonitto is a guy who has done nothing but work hard and get better as a Bronco and this was his breakout season.
Bonitto has superb lean, burst, and raw speed as an edge rusher. He’s grown to be very solid at holding the edge in the run game (which I recall being a weakness early in his career). He’s a player that I think has yet to hit his ceiling, which should be scary given how well he played last season.
I will make the somewhat critical note here that he benefitted a great deal from the scheme and Zach Allen’s presence in our offense. While many of his sacks were just superb plays by him, there were enough that were the result of coverage plus a collapsing pocket that he was able to hustle for, which made me put him at a 4 instead of a 5.
This next season is a contract year for Bonitto and I’m hoping the Broncos find a way to extend him before he hits the open market. He’s a player I’d love to see be a Bronco for life and is definitely worth spending money on as long as it isn’t breaking the bank.
Jonathon Cooper – 3.5
Jonathan Cooper came to the Broncos a year earlier than Bonitto and has a similar tale. He’s worked his tail off to get better and this was in my eyes a breakout year for him as well. Toward the end of the season, I noticed him taking quite a few bad angles either holding the edge against a runner or when breaking down on a completed pass to help contain. It was puzzling a bit, as I don’t recall seeing problems like this last season with him.
Jonah Elliss – 3
I see Jonah Elliss as a player who has a really bright future in the league. I think this season went perfectly for his development. He was able to come in on a rotation and get meaningful snaps. In his snaps, he was able to make consistent splash plays throughout the season and show his talent. He’s got a high football IQ, good speed, and solid pass-rush moves as an edge player. I’m curious to see if he pushes for more snaps this next season after bulking up more and getting another training camp under his belt.
Dondrea Tillman – 3
Tillman didn’t get quite as consistent opportunities as Elliss this season, but he showed himself to be a solid backup edge player who was contributing big plays just like Elliss. He’s got great upside and a knack for pass-rushing. That’s a potent combination for a first-year player carving out a spot for himself on a roster.
Unit Rating – 4
I really wanted to give this unit a 5 rating given how prolific they were getting sacks, but I see a lot of those successes coming from coverage and scheme more than from raw, explosive talent from any player outside of Bonitto.
Also of note, I’m rating our outside linebackers largely as edge players. All of them showed solid ability to drop into zone at times with a good handful of passes defended. That being said, the majority of their snaps saw them holding the edge against the run or pass rushing.
That being said, this unit is honestly in a really good spot heading into next season. I don’t expect any big draft picks or free-agent acquisitions here unless we get a new defensive coordinator who has a vastly different vision for what he wants his front to do.
Inside Linebackers
Cody Barton – 2
With Alex Singleton having a season-ending injury, Cody Barton stepped in and took over primary duties at inside linebacker. He played decently all season long with some really good games and big plays.
The problem is that he also lacked a great deal against the pass. His game appears to me to lack lateral range and quickness. That makes him a matchup target for most opposing quarterbacks.
The Broncos brought in Barton for depth and as an upgrade in depth aside from Singleton. He’s capable of being a quality depth rotational linebacker for the team. To my eyes, he’s just not the kind of linebacker that you want to see starting every game.
Justin Strnad – 2
Strnad also got some opportunities this season to step up from being mainly a special teams contributor. I saw his season much like Barton’s: up and down. He’s a player who is good enough to play, but I see more backup from him than I do as a starter.
What I did like about Strnad’s game was his ability to diagnose run plays and react with appropriate timing to be disruptive. He was the linebacker that rotated out mostly for our sub-packages so wasn’t asked to be in on a ton of passing downs.
Alex Singleton – 3
We only got to see three games from Singleton this year, and nothing really changed my mind about him from last season. He’s a player who brings a solid level of risk/reward to the game. He makes good plays, but because he lacks a high level of athleticism, he’s late to a lot of plays.
I do think his ability to defend the pass is higher than Barton’s as he’s quicker to read what’s happening. His raw ability doesn’t appear to me to be that much better, though.
It is because of his ability to diagnose plays that he typically leads the team in tackles which is a plus. Hopefully, he’s healthy enough to compete next season and contribute. He’s a gritty player who has a high desire to win which is something I love to see on the team.
Unit Rating – 1
The Broncos have been largely ignoring the inside linebacker position for years. They’ve chosen to get by with lower-quality players (either via the draft or free agency) and it shows.
The big thing that many noticed as the season wore on and we got to our more competitive matchups against higher-quality quarterbacks was that teams had a lot of success throwing to the middle of the field on us or in the flat. A lot of that success had to do with linebacker play or lack thereof. When you can easily scheme a tight end or running back against a Cody Barton, you always have a winning matchup on paper. That drum got beat plenty in our losses.
This unit is short a starting quality player and needs to honestly upgrade both spots in terms of starting talent. They can get by with Singleton next season if he bounces back well from his injury. I’m honestly thinking free agency and the draft should both bring some talent to the position.
Defensive roster status overall
- Defensive Ends -2
- Nose Tackles – 3
- Linebackers – 1