Winners and Losers from the Broncos 2024 season

With the Broncos 2024 season, let us take a look who came out of it as a winner or as a loser.

The Denver Broncos 2024 season was a wild ride from the very beginning to the end this past Sunday. It all started with the Russell Wilson drama and the Broncos taking on a historic dead cap hit to move on from him. This move was supposed to set the Broncos back and handicap them from building a competitive roster. Then, we went through the draft process where Payton tricked almost everyone into thinking he wanted to draft J.J. McCarthy when in fact, he was head over heels for Bo Nix. In the end, Payton got his man with the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

After a summer full of Bo Nix hype, the Broncos would start 0-2 and Nix would get off to a slow start. However, the Broncos quickly turned it around and would go 10-5 the rest of the way while Bo Nix put up one of the better statistical rookie seasons of all time. Suddenly, the Broncos found themselves in the middle of the postseason conversation. After a few stressful weeks, they finally ended their playoff drought when they clinched a postseason berth in the regular season finale.

Sure, things didn’t go as planned in the playoffs. but the Broncos had a successful 2024 season. So, with all that said, let us take a look at the winners and losers from the Broncos 2024 season.

Winners

QB Bo Nix

This is an obvious one.

The Broncos rookie quarterback turned into everything the franchise has been lacking since Peyton Manning retired and sets them up to be a contender moving forward. Nix finished the season with 3,775 yards passing, 29 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions, completed 66.3% of his passes, and had a quarterback rating of 93.3. and a QBR of 57.2. He also had 430 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns, and 1 reception for 2 yards and 1 touchdown. While he won’t win the Rookie of the Year award, Nix had a great season and did it despite a not-so-great supporting cast.

Nix had his doubters during and after the draft but he ultimately proved them all wrong, proved Sean Payton right, and got the Broncos back into the playoffs. Now, he will have his first full offseason with the Broncos, will learn the playbook even more, and hopefully get some more weapons around him.

The Broncos 5 All-Pro Players

It wasn’t just all Bo Nix for the Broncos this season. The team saw a total of five players earn All-Pro honors this season which is tied for the second most ever in franchise history. Cornerback Pat Surtain, guard Quinn Meinerz, and kick returner Marvin Mims Jr. were named first-team All-Pro’s by the Associated Press while edge rusher Nik Bonitto and defensive lineman Zach Allen received second-team honors.

CB Pat Surtain II: The odds-on favorite to be the Defensive Player of the Year enjoyed another great season for the Broncos. He has proved not only to be the best cornerback in the league but also to be one of the top defensive players in the entire league. The Broncos rewarded him with a massive four-year, $96 million dollar extension this offseason and PS2 rewarded him with his best season yet.

OG Quinn Meinerz: Let that belly breathe! The Broncos big-man had himself another great season and earned All-Pro honors. He is a mauler in the trenches and like Surtain, is coming off a massive extension as well. He signed a four-year, $80 million dollar extension this offseason and like Surtain, rewarded the Broncos with his best season yet. He is one of the best guards in the entire NFL and figures to be an All-Pro player for many more years to come.

WR/KR Marvin Mims: Mims received this honor for his return skills, but I am going to focus on his breakout as a receiver. During the second half of the year, Mims was the Broncos’ best playmaker and scored on multiple long touchdowns. The former second-round pick shook off the bust talk and is now one of the building blocks of the Broncos’ offense moving forward.

EDGE Nik Bonitto: Man, the Broncos needed a breakout season from one of their edge rushers, and Bonitto answered the call. He is another Defensive Player of the Year candidate after he totaled 13.5 sacks on the year and had two game-changing defensive touchdowns this season. He is the Broncos’ best pass rusher since Von Miller and is in line for a contract extension from the team in the near future.

IDL Zach Allen: He is probably one of the more disrespected players in the entire NFL. Allen had an excellent season for the Broncos but was not named a Pro Bowler and only received second-team All-Pro honors. He excelled in the run game, was one of the top interior pass rushers, and was a key part of the Broncos’ success this season. He has turned into one of the best and most important Broncos on the roster.

OT Garett Bolles and EDGE Jonathon Cooper

Both players were set for free agency this offseason and would have been among the top free agents available if they hit the market. However, the Broncos made sure they didn’t and signed both starters to extensions this season.

At the trade deadline, the Broncos signed Cooper to a four-year, $60 million dollar extension. He would finish the season with his first double-digit sack season of his career and be a key part of the Broncos’ top-ranked pass unit this season. He and Bonitto give the Broncos one of the better pass-rushing tandems in the entire NFL moving forward.

As for Bolles, he was signed to a four-year, $82 million dollar extension just last month. Bo Nix’s blindside protector had another solid season for the Broncos and kept the pass rushers from getting to him all season. While Bolles has been criticized throughout his time with the Broncos, he is one of the better left tackles in the NFL. If he hit the market, it would have left a major on the roster and he would have been one of the top free agents available.

Both players had really good years, earned contract extensions, and will be key players for the team moving forward.

Broncos Pass Rush

The Broncos led the league in sacks this season with 63 and it was a big reason for their success. They had two players with double-digit sacks, Nik Bonitto with 13.5 and Jonathon Cooper with 10.5. and four more players with at least five sacks on the year. Zach Allen had 8.5, John Franklin-Myers had 7, Dondrea Tillman had 5, and rookie Jonah Elliss also had 5.

Getting this amount of contribution from your pass rushers is huge and something you can build around moving forward. Hopefully, we will see more of this moving forward and the Broncos once again have a top defense in 2025.

S Brandon Jones and CB Riley Moss

Safety Brandon Jones was the Broncos’ big free agent addition this offseason as he was tasked with replacing Justin Simmons in the secondary. He had big shoes to fill, but overall, he had a pretty good year. This was his first season with the Broncos and hopefully, he can continue being a solid part of their secondary moving forward.

For most of the year, cornerback Riley Moss was enjoying a breakout year. After a lost rookie year due to injury, Moss earned the starting job opposite of Pat Surtain II and held his own. However, a knee injury in the middle of the year cost him four games and he had some struggles after coming back from the injury. Des[ite that. Moss proved he could be a really good starter in the NFL and will only improve as he gets more experience moving forward.

WR Courtland Sutton

The Broncos big veteran wide receiver had another great season for the Broncos. He topped 1,000 yards, had 8 touchdowns, and made some more incredible catches this season. He was Bo Nix’s most trusted target and came through for the most part for him in key moments this season

We’ll see what the future holds for Sutton and the Broncos, but the veteran wide receiver was one of the Broncos’ better players this season.

HC Sean Payton and DC Vance Joseph

Neither coach was perfect this year, but both did have great years and helped drag the Broncos from being an embarrassment to a playoff team in two seasons.

Let us start with Joseph. Many of us, myself included, wanted him fired after the 70-point Miami game. He turned things around last year, but this year, he took it to another level. He led a Broncos defense that, if we’re being honest, isn’t loaded with talent or depth, and turned them into one of the top-ranked units in the league. They led the league in sacks and had three defenders earn All-Pro honors. Sure, the defense had its struggles in the final few games, but overall, this was a very good season for Joseph who may now get another head coaching opportunity.

As for Payton, boy did he prove a lot of people wrong. He was questioned about how handled the Russell Wilson situation, and he was questioned about the Bo Nix pick. and some even predicted he could be fired after the end of this season. Not only was he right about Wilson, but he proved to be smarter than most when it came to evaluating quarterbacks and led the Broncos from the mess Nathaniel Hackett left them at and turned them into a postseason team once again.

Sure, there were some play-calling issues, clock management concerns, and some decisions he probably wants back, but he has changed the culture for the Broncos and has them moving in the right direction. So far, he has been worth the draft capital and money the Broncos gave him to be their head coach.

Losers

Broncos running backs

The Broncos’ run game struggled all season and is now a position they need to prioritize this offseason. Pending free agent Javonte Williams led the team in rushing but only had 513 yards on the season and averaged just 3.8 yards per carry. Jaleel McLaughlin was solid but only managed 496 yards and 4.4 yards per carry. Rookie Audric Estime had some hype but was a non-factor and totaled just 310 yards, 4.1 yards per carry, and was benched for the Broncos wild card game.

There were a number of weeks where quarterback Bo Nix led the team in rushing. That’s not good and the way the league is going, the Broncos NEED to improve their running back room. They need to let Javonte Williams walk, add probably two new backs to this backfield, and hopefully, get better production from this unit next season.

Giving Bo Nix a legitimate run game will only help him have an even better sophomore season for the Broncos next season.

Greg Dulcich, Lucas Krull, and the Broncos receiving threat at tight end

Heading into the year, the Broncos receiving threats at tight end were Greg Dulcich and Lucas Krull. Dulcich appeared to finally be over his hamstring injuries while Krull had some major offseason hype. Unfortunately, neither made an impact on the team this year and Dulcich was even waived in the middle of the season.

Krull finished the year with 19 receptions for 152 yards and 0 touchdowns, while Dulcich had 5 receptions for 28 yards. The tight end room as a whole struggled this season. Adam Trautman led the room in yards with 188 while Krull had the most receptions with 19. That’s not good and the Broncos need to improve on that this offseason.

Broncos Linebackers

It was a tough year for the Broncos linebackers. It was already a weak spot on the defense and then they lost leading tackler Alex Singleton to an ACL injury early in the year. That means Cody Barton, and special teamer Justin Strnad were going to be counted on to be their starting linebackers this season.

Both had their moments this season, but as the season progressed, teams started to attack this weakness more and more. Singleton will be turning 31 years old, coming off an ACL injury, and is a potential cap cut. Both Barton and Strnad are free agents and likely won’t be prioritized by the team this offseason.

This room as a whole needs to be revamped and hopefully, we see some improvements next season.

S P.J. Locke

I mean no disrespect to Locke who had a good 2023 season filling in for Kareem Jackson and earned the contract he received from the Broncos. However, the fact he was the unquestioned starter was a result of the Broncos massive dead cap hit.

Now, with that cap hit mostly gone and Locke coming off a not-so-great year, it’s hard to see him starting again next season. What have you done for us lately is how most of us look at players and Locke slowing down and allowing the Bills to score on a backbreaking fourth-down touchdown in the wildcard game does not help his case. He struggled in coverage all season and frankly, the Broncos need to upgrade his spot in the starting lineup.

He is a solid reserve player. but his cap number makes him a potential cap cut this offseason. I am not sure if they’ll go that route, but expect the Broncos to prioritize upgrading that spot this offseason.

WRs Devaughn Vele and Troy Franklin

This might be controversial, but I am listing both rookie receivers and losers this season. Both were day three picks and shouldn’t have had high expectations heading into the year, but the Broncos’ weak receiver room allowed them to earn larger roles in the offense than they would have with other teams.

Vele had the better year of the two and he finished the season with 41 receptions for 475 yards and 3 touchdowns. A solid rookie year, but his impact on the offense felt minimal at best. Franklin had 28 receptions for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns. If he could have hauled in a few more of those deep shots, we probably would have had a different conversation, but he didn’t.

The reason I have them as losers is because, at least in my opinion, neither of their performances have me confident in them being a starter next season. The Broncos need to make some additions to this receiver room and likely replace these two as starters.

Will they both be on the roster? Most likely, but I am not sitting here thinking we can count on them to be starters next season. They had an opportunity to impress this season, and they left me wanting more. Now, could we see a second-year jump from them like we did with Mims? Of course, and I hope we do. Right now though, neither of them should stop the Broncos from paying Tee Higgins, trading for someone like Garrett Wilson, or spending a top draft pick on a receiver.