Broncos Place Two More Stars In NFL’s Top 100 List

The Denver Broncos continue to fill up the NFL’s annual Top 100 list with their stars, with linebacker Nik Bonitto and quarterback Bo Nix being the latest to join the star party. Bonitto checked in at No. 32, with Nix landing at No. 59, according to Bobby Kownack of NFL.com. 

Bonitto’s appearance isn’t a surprise at all. He’s been surging for the last couple of seasons, as he’s made the Pro Bowl twice, finished in the top-five in the league in sacks a couple of times and made this list a couple of times since 2024. 

He’s the leader of what Kownack called the Broncos’ accelerated rebuild, with the defense threatening the NFL’s all-time sack record for most of the season as they faded late. Bonitto also added a pair of forced fumbles and a sack in the playoffs to put the cherry on top, and his stats included the league’s second-highest pressure rate of 20.2 percent and the highest quick-pressure rate of 11.1 percent among defenders who have rushed the passer at least 200 times. 

Finally, the linebacker had fewer opportunities than most of his contemporaries in this category as he tied for fourth with 80 pressures on just 397 of the 700 dropbacks Denver faced, which comes out to 56.7 percent. 

Nix’s appearance and ranking on this list is far more controversial. He led the Broncos to numerous comeback wins, but his stats simply aren’t as good as many of the premiere quarterbacks who appear annually at the top of this list. 

But Nix is no slouch in the passing department, either. He threw more passes than any other quarterback in the league, and he led Denver to the top seed in the AFC and another playoff win in just his second year as a pro. 

The comeback stats are what got Nix on this list, though. He led the Broncos on a league-high seven game winning drives last season, according to the writer, and Nix outdueled QB Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills in Denver’s thrilling division-round win. The Broncos offense had occasional struggles with inconsistency, but when the game was on the line Nix led the charge to victory. 

Injuries are an issue for both players right now. Nix is coming back from a broken ankle in one of the league’s leading storylines, while Bonitto is currently out after suffering a lower body injury in training camp.