George Paton was captured in a state of shock after drafting Nik Bonitto back in 2022, and in 2024, we are seeing Paton's shock come to life. Check out this clip from the Denver Broncos X/Twitter account back during the 2022 NFL Draft, when the Broncos were able to draft pick Bonitto at the bottom of the second round:
“Nik Bonitto at 64? Holy 🤬”#BehindTheBroncos presented by @surface debuts this week 👀 pic.twitter.com/yGuTl5EjxQ
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) May 3, 2022
Paton is downright shocked that he was able to get Bonitto this low, and after his rookie season in which he was virtually nonexistent, many wondered what the issue was, but a breakout year in year two began to show us some life with this player. In 2023, Nik Bonitto had eight sacks, 13 tackles for loss, and 20 QB hits.
And in 2024, he's hit a new level and is easily one of the top candidates for the Defensive Player of the Year. Through 13 games, he's got 11 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, and 19 QB hits. He's right up there with the top pass-rushers in the NFL and is enjoying a stellar season.
He's also got a pick-six and is on pace for 14 sacks, 17 tackles for loss, and 25 QB hits. He's a primary anchor of this Denver Broncos defense, which has been among the best in the NFL all year. It's been so good that the team is now 8-5 on the year with a rookie QB in Bo Nix, but credit does go to Nix and the offense for figuring this thing out recently.
George Paton's seemingly had a ton of confidence in this pick as well, and coming into the NFL, the main thing that Bonitto seemed to struggle with was being able to set a hard edge and contribute to stopping the run. That was also a bit of an issue in year two, but here in year three, he's really turned a corner.
The pass rush threat was always there with the former Oklahoma Sooner, and I guess it was just a matter of time and reps for the young player. Bonitto is very likely signing a huge contract extension with the Denver Broncos this coming offseason.
Fourth-year player Jonathon Cooper just got a four-year extension of his own recently, so I have no reason to believe Denver isn't going to get this deal done with Nik Bonitto. The team could also extend Zach Allen further and keep their foundation in place along the defensive line.
But Nik Bonitto's emergence here in 2024 makes George Paton look like a total genius.