Broncos OLB Nik Bonitto has transformed into pass rushing star in Year 3: “He’s certainly made the leap”

For Nik Bonitto, speed kills.

In the third quarter against the Chiefs on Sunday, Denver’s outside linebacker used his best trait to attack quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Bonitto shot out of a cannon the moment the ball was snapped. Kansas City tight end Peyton Hendershot attempted to chip Bonitto and get him off his path, but it was no use. Rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia couldn’t even lay hands on him.

In the blink of an eye, Mahomes — known for being difficult to sack — found himself being taken down for a 9-yard loss.

It was the latest example of the outsized impact Bonitto has made through 10 weeks of his third NFL season, with opponents now compelled to send extra bodies his way — and the Oklahoma product still finding a way to get to the quarterback.

“He’s certainly made the leap,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said.

“… He has a lot in the tank relative to his pass rush, and (knows) what he wants to do and how to set somebody up. He’s really helped us.”

Bonitto’s production has steadily increased since being taken in the second round of the 2022 draft. After he totaled 1.5 sacks in 15 games as a rookie, Bonitto had eight and 50 pressures during his sophomore campaign, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats. He’s on track to top those numbers in 2024 — and maybe even put himself in the Pro Bowl conversation.

He has 32 pressures and seven sacks, tied for seventh in the league with Baltimore’s Kyle Van Noy, Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and Minnesota’s Jonathan Greenard. He has 11 pressures in under three seconds and a get-off (time it takes for a pass rusher to cross the line of scrimmage after the snap) of 0.76 seconds, according to Next Gen Stats.

He’s been especially dangerous coming out of the halftime break, totaling three sacks and 11 pressures in the third quarter — tied for second.

“He’s a guy that plays with real good bend,” Payton said. “He can bend and torque his body.”

Jamar Cain has watched Bonitto’s ascension up close. As an outside linebacker coach at Oklahoma from 2020-21, he helped Bonitto use his athletic gifts to become a game-wrecker off the edge. The key was timing.

“It’s just him understanding the snap counts, seeing the ball and not hearing the quarterback’s cadence,” Cain, the Broncos’ defensive line coach, told The Denver Post. “He’s developing different moves and not just being a one-trick pony.”

The Broncos have been searching for a dominant pass rusher since trading away Von Miller and Bradley Chubb one year apart. Those were the last two players to have double-digit sack seasons for Denver. Bonitto is growing into that player now.

The signs were there last year when he recorded two sacks in back-to-back games against the Bears and the Jets. This season, he’s had a sack in seven of the last eight games. He and Jonathon Cooper have a friendly competition on who finishes the year with the most sacks. Bonitto has the lead by a half of a sack.

Adding more context to Bonitto’s dominance against opposing offensive linemen, he has drawn four holding penalties, tied for most in the league, according to Sports Info Solutions.

“I think Nik is growing up, and you can see the film studies show up on game day,” Cain said.

Denver’s loss in Week 10 will forever be remembered for the blocked field goal attempt on the final play. But Bonitto was one of the best players on the field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Even though he registered just one sack on 25 pass rushes, he could’ve easily had four. With 12:08 to go in the second quarter, Bonitto had Mahomes in his grasp, but the 2-time MVP managed to throw the ball away.

Later in the quarter, an illegal contact penalty on safety Brandon Jones negated Bonitto’s sack on third down. In the third quarter, Bonitto fought off Suamataia but failed to wrap up Mahomes, resulting in a 35-yard completion to running back Samaje Perine.

He finished with six pressures and a pressure rate of 24%. It was the fourth straight game with a pressure rate of at least 20% — which puts him among the league’s best over that time.

“He continues to make plays for us,” said inside linebacker Justin Strnad.

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