Nik Bonitto is clearly one of the best pass rushers in the NFL, but just how good can he truly be? Bonitto was on another planet in the 2025 NFL Season. He ended the year with 13.5 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, and 24 QB hits. He also added two defensive touchdowns and got some legitimate run as the Defensive Player of the Year for a short time.
Bonitto inked a contract extension with the Broncos this past offseason and is clearly only just now entering his prime. He's gotten better each year of his NFL career, and there is reason to believe that the best is yet to come for the young rusher. Well, some have seen a ton of similarities between Bonitto and former Broncos' great, Von Miller.
Both Bonitto and Miller have and had elite bend and speed with the Broncos. Now yes, Nik Bonitto might be a tad undersized at the position, but he did have Chargers' left tackle Joe Alt in a blender during Week 3. Well, could Bonitto finish the 2025 NFL Season with more than 13.5 sacks and perhaps challenge Miller's single-season Broncos' record?
Nik Bonitto believe he can break Von Miller's single-season Broncos sack record
Sure, what else is Bonitto supposed to say here? Nik Bonitto recently said that he does have the confidence to go out and break Miller's record, but he does note that he has to stay healthy, which is valid:
#Broncos OLB Nik Bonitto's 2025 goal is "get more than the" 13.5 sacks he had in 2024 After that he said "very reasonable" he could break Von Miller team record of 18.5 in '12 “As long as I remain healthy I feel I have the confidence in myself to go do it”https://t.co/dINKrdlugr
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) September 27, 2025
Bonitto actually hasn't missed a game since the start of the 2024 NFL Season. Across all three starts this year, Bonitto has three sacks, four tackles for loss, and nine QB hits. If we took these numbers and averaged them over a 17-game season, he'd finish 2025 like this:
17 sacks
23 tackles for loss
51 QB hits
He'd not hit Miller's single-season record, but he'd surely get a ton of votes for the DPOY award, perhaps winning it entirely. Denver saw Patrick Surtain II win the award in 2024, and it would be quite something to see Bonitto make it two in a row for the Broncos.
Denver looks to get back on track on defense in Week 4 against a Bengals' team that just got blown out by 38 points against Carson Wentz and the Vikings back in Week 3.