The Denver Broncos Jonathon Cooper has the fastest get-off in the NFL.
Currently, Cooper and Nik Bonitto “Mr. Get Off, I get off at my feet-oh” are Nos. 1 and 2 on a Broncos team that leads the NFL in sacks.
Bonitto became a sensation last year, and now it seems it’s time for Cooper to enjoy a breakout season of his own.
Denver Broncos Jonathon Cooper has fastest reaction time in the league
Cooper and Bonitto are an amazing athletes who use their quick reflexes to get off the line of scrimmage in a mere 0.69 and 0.72 seconds, respectively.
That, per Seth Welder of ESPN:
Fastest pass rush get off (time to cross LOS when pass rushing), min. 50 pass rushes, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
Jonathon Cooper, 0.69s
Bryce Huff, 0.71s
Nik Bonitto, 0.72s
Myles Garrett, 0.72s
Yaya Diaby, 0.73s— Seth Walder (@sethwalder.bsky.social) October 2, 2025 at 8:09 AM
As Mina Kimes put it, “2 out of 5 being Broncos is WILD”.
Last week, in the dominating 28-3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Cooper and Bonitto’s get-offs were on display on one sack in particular. The Bengals had five offensive lineman to block only three Broncos players, and both Cooper and Bonitto still met at QB Jake Browning. (The play is at 2:30 in the tweet below.)
The @Broncos lead the NFL with 15 sacks through four games 😤 pic.twitter.com/klpeFDCfKI
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2025
For a pass rusher, having a quick get-off is crucial to getting to the quarterback. Being able to anticipate the snap count and jump at the right time means getting to, and usually around, the opposing tackle so quick he doesn’t know what hit him.
That speed rush/dip was part of Von Miller’s bag of tricks for a long time, it was on display last year as Bonitto played like Miller, and now Cooper is using it too.
Currently, Cooper has 2.5 sacks and is on pace for 11, which would be a new career-high for him. The fifth-year EDGE had 10.5 last year.
Bill Barnwell calls Bonitto his 1/4 point DPOY
Bill Barnwell of ESPN named Nik Bonitto his quarter-season Defensive Player of the Year today.
New column: My quarter-season awards after four weeks of football, including why Nik Bonitto is my Defensive Player of the (Quarter-) Year www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/…
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell.com) October 2, 2025 at 8:52 AM
“I’m just not sure we can put anybody ahead of Bonitto, who rates out as the best pass rusher in the NFL this season by about every metric I can put together beyond sacks — where his 4.5 are a half-sack behind Brian Burns of the Giants. Bonitto has done that on 86 pass-rush opportunities, while Garrett is at 98 and Burns has had 127,” Barnwell starts out.
Bonitto leads the Broncos with 4.5 sacks this year, which put him on career-high pacing, too. If he keeps this up, he’ll have 19 by the time the season is over. That would be a single-season Broncos record, with the aforementioned Miller racking up 18.5 sacks in his second year way back in 2012.
If Bonitto keeps at this pace, he’ll have to at least be in the conversation for NFL Defensive Player of the Year, which was won by Denver’s Patrick Surtain last season.
Last year, the Broncos led the league in sacks with 62. That was also a franchise-best. This year, they’re on pace for 64 after four games.
This week, the 2-2 Broncos face the undefeated 4-0 Eagles in Philadelphia. While one of Denver’s strengths is speed on the outside, they did get pushed around by the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs last year.
If the Eagles go to the Tush Push and inside runs, Denver could be run over again this week. On the other hand, if the Broncos can get a lead and force Jalen Hurts to pass some, Bonitto and Cooper will be on the hunt again.
That game kicks off at 11 a.m. MT on Sunday, October 5 on CBS.