The Denver Broncos are nearing the start of the 2025 NFL season when they host the Tennessee Titans in Week 1 on Sunday.
Coach Sean Payton has a team that many NFL Insiders are saying is a legitimate threat to knock off the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.
Before the team kicks the season off, Payton announced the team's team captains.
After leading the team to the playoffs in his rookie year, Bo Nix was named a team captain. In his first season, he threw for 3,775 yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. His favorite target last season was Courtland Sutton, who joins him as a team captain.
Sutton put together a very good campaign in 2024, as he finished with 81 catches for 1,081 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Broncos were one of the best defenses in the league last season. They were No. 3 in both PPG allowed (18.3 PPG) and rushing yards allowed (96.3 yards).
There are many talented players on the Broncos' defense, but the unquestioned leader of that unit is star cornerback Pat Surtain II.
Entering his fifth season, the former Alabama star has emerged as one of the best cornerbacks in the entire league. Last year, he was named First-team All-Pro and the NFL Defensive Player of the Year as he finished with 45 tackles and four interceptions.
He was also recently announced as the No. 10 player in the NFL, according to the NFL Top 100 list.
Joining him in the secondary is safety Talonoa Hufanga, who was named a captain despite this being his first year in Denver. He spent the first four years of his career in San Francisco, where he emerged as one of the best safeties quickly after he entered the league. He has had to deal with injuries each of the last two seasons, but Payton making him a captain already shows what he can bring to this team.
The other returning captains for the Broncos are guard Quinn Meinerz, linebacker Alex Singleton and kicker Wil Lutz. The only other new captain on the Broncos besides Hufanga is defensive lineman D.J. Jones.
Leadership should be a strength on both sides of the ball, and it is a big reason why expectations are so high in Denver. However, you combine that with one of the best coaches in the NFL in Payton, and then it starts to make sense why people think this is a contender in the AFC.