The Denver Broncos have stars all over the field and seven players received recognition on ESPN's Top 100 list of MVP candidates.
The Denver Broncos have had an incredible season this year and George Paton deserves a lot of credit for the roster he and Coach Sean Payton built over the last few years.
This team has a ton of great players, many of them stars, that are directly responsible for the impressive season Denver has had thus far.
ESPN’s Seth Walder created his fourth annual list to determine his Top 100 National Football League Most Valuable Player candidates for the 2025 season, which included a total of seven Broncos players and three in the top 30.
Left tackle Garett Bolles ranked 16th on Walder’s list, followed by edge rusher Nik Bonitto at 21, cornerback Pat Surtain II at 26, quarterback Bo Nix at 42, right guard Quinn Meinerz at 52, defensive tackle Zach Allen at 65 and safety Talanoa Hufanga at 87.
Bolles received a ton of love from Walder, and rightfully so. Bolles had a dominant season en route to his second All-Pro team selection but first first-team nod. Walder mentions that while Bolles’ pass block win rate of 94 percent was impressive (and ranked ninth in the NFL), that number sells him short.
“He was frequently penalized in that stat for plays where he pushed an outside rusher too deep to be a real threat to the quarterback (a known weakness of PBWR), often walling them off,” Walder wrote Thursday.
Imagine being penalized for doing your job exceptionally well. Bolles was great as a run blocker as well and is a huge reason that the Broncos secured the No. 1 seed in the American Football Conference and advanced to the AFC Championship.
Bonitto had a terrific season and is a candidate for NFL Defensive Player of the Year despite not earning All-Pro honors. You can’t fault Bonitto for not being selected considering Myles Garrett, Will Anderson Jr. and Micah Parsons nudged him off the list. Denver fans and the organization know how valuable Bonitto is to this team and his 14 sacks ranked fifth in the league.
Surtain is easily the best coverage cornerback in the NFL when healthy. Unfortunately, he missed a few games this season with a pectoral injury, but he still made second-team All-Pro during a “down” season.
Nix showed everyone that he will be a great quarterback in this league for many years. The dual-threat QB was heroic, resilient and inspiring as he led his team to the AFC Championship in just his second season.
Meinerz and Allen were both first-team All-Pros, joining Bolles and special teamer Devon Key. Meinerz was the best rated guard according to Pro Football Focus, earning a 90.9 overall grade. Allen was first in QB pressures and hits as an interior lineman; he recorded seven sacks, fourth-most on the team.
Hufanga was impressive in his first season as a Bronco, earning second-team All-Pro honors. He was great in coverage and a pivotal member of this great defense.
The whole team was outstanding this season, minus the penalties on both sides of the ball. But the team wouldn’t be where they are without the help of these seven players in particular.