The Denver Broncos’ selection of Nik Bonitto has the potential to help overhaul a pass rush that ranked dead last in 2021 in pass-rush win rate, and there aren’t many teams who found more value in the second round of this year’s draft.
Bonitto is viewed as so valuable in fact, that USA Today’s Draft Wire ranked Bonitto as one of the biggest draft steals of the entire second round, arguing that he should have been off the board before the 64th overall pick.
“Bonitto nearly made it all the way to the third round before the Broncos wisely scooped him up with their first pick of the draft,” Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling wrote. “[An] undersized but tenacious pass rusher, Bonitto didn’t let any perceived limitations prevent him from being one of the most productive and impactful edge defenders in the nation. Even as a rotational rusher in sub packages behind Bradley Chubb and Randy Gregory, Bonitto should make an instant impact for the Denver defense, and make many teams regret letting him fall this far.”
Some advanced metrics, like pass-rush win rate, which Denver performed so poorly in last season, even have Bonitto as the most productive pass rusher in the entire class.
2021 Pass Rush Win Rate (min. 250 pass rush attempts) via @PFF
Nik Bonitto 27.3%
Kingsley Enagbare 26.0%
Andre Carter II 25.9%
Aidan Hutchinson 25.4%
George Karlaftis 25.4%
Alex Wright 25.0%…find players that consistently generate pressure! Seems simple enough I suppose
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) February 3, 2022
That data is further supported when you remove special types of passing plays that can mitigate the pass rush from the equation, as Bonitto trails only Kingsley Enagbare in pass-rush win rate under those circumstances.
Leaders in @PFF pass-rush win rate with RPOs, play-action and screens removed:
▪️ Kingsley Enagbare (41%)
▪️ Nik Bonitto (35%)
▪️ Arnold Ebeketie (33%)
▪️ Aidan Hutchinson (32%)— Austin Gayle (@austingayle_) November 16, 2021
Another factor that should help the Bonitto pick look like a steal is that he should have plenty of opportunity. Bradley Chubb is set to be a free agent in 2023, and both he and Randy Gregory have injury histories, meaning Bonitto might even see significant playing time as a rookie.