Patrick Surtain II won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2024. Could these three players win major awards in 2025? The Denver Broncos are back on the map, folks. Not only did Surtain win the award, but Sean Payton was a finalist for Coach of the Year and Bo Nix was a finalist for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
If the momentum keeps trending the way it has for the franchise over the last two seasons, this team could be even better in 2025, and we could see another player or two win a major award. Sean Payton has totally turned this franchise around, and we are also seeing some of George Paton's draft picks hit their stride.
Could these three players win major awards in the 2025 NFL Season?
3 Broncos players who could win major awards in the 2025 NFL Season
Bo Nix, MVP
With Bo Nix putting himself on the map in a big way in 2024, there could be some rumblings about a potential MVP candidacy in 2025. It's actually insane that Drew Brees never won the MVP during his time with Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints.
If the Broncos are able to surround Nix with better talent and the year two leap happens, we could at least be talking about Nix being in the conversation. The one thing that I am noticing with some Broncos' fans is that the lack of success this team had prior to the 2023 NFL Season seems to be clouding some judgement.
These Denver Broncos are a different breed, a different animal, and just because they had virtually nothing going for them before, does not mean they can't show up in a big way now.
NIk Bonitto, Defensive Player of the Year
There was about a month's time during the 2024 NFL Season where people were talking about the possibility of Nik Bonitto winning the Defensive Player of the Year award. He had 13.5 sacks and two defensive touchdowns in what was clearly the best year of his career.
From years one to three, Bonitto has taken massive steps. You have to wonder if the young pass rusher could even have more room to make another leap into 2025? Bonitto may end up signing a lucrative contract extension, so perhaps that could also add some extra motivation.
Bonitto is just a tad bit undersized for the position, but it's clear that he's among the best rushers in the NFL and is truly just now entering the prime of his career. With players like Trey Hendrickson, Myles Garrett, and TJ Watt getting older, it could pave the way for young guys like Bonitto to put themselves on the map.
Zach Allen, Defensive Player of the Year
Zach Allen should have come close to the DPOY award in 2024. It's odd that he didn't get more attention. He hit the rate 40 QB-hit mark in 2024 and also added 8.5 sacks and 15 tackles for loss. He did this is just 16 games. Allen has spent his entire NFL career playing in Vance Joseph's defenses, and with how much he's developed from year one to year two in Denver, you have to wonder, like Nik Bonitto, if Allen has even more room to make a bigger leap in 2025.
Allen has got one more year left on his contract, and the expectation here is that the Denver Broncos extend him further. He's turned into one of the elite defensive ends in football and is someone who absolutely has the juice to win the DPOY award in the 2025 NFL Season.