3 Broncos players who could lead team to a winning record in the 2024 season

All of a sudden, the Denver Broncos have a boatload of young talent, and some of them may be able to lead them to a winning record in 2024. Denver having all this young talent is a breath of fresh air. Some players like Patrick Surtain II and Quinn Meinerz have signed long-term deals and are now foundational pieces.

Other players like Jonathon Cooper, Nik Bonitto, and others could be in line to take a leap into the 2024 NFL Season. if Denver plans on finishing with a winning record, they'll have to get some elite play from some young players.

But which players could have the biggest impact on Denver finishing above .500?

3 Broncos players who could lead team to a winning record in the 2024 season
Bo Nix, QB

Let's get the easy one out of the way early. If Bo Nix ends up showing signs early on that he belongs in this league, the Denver Broncos are all the way back. It's just that simple. We all saw how quickly the Houston Texans turned their franchise around. CJ Stroud ended up being a grand-slam of a draft pick.

And having a franchise QB fixes most issues. The Broncos could see a similar impact from Bo Nix, and if that's the case, not only can Denver compete in 2024, but they may just be set for the next 12 years after that. Nix could be a slower study, which could prevent the team from present-day success. This may lead to them breaking out in 2025, but if Nix plays as well as he did in the preseason, Denver may coast to a winning record for the first time since 2016.

Jonathon Cooper or Nik Bonitto, EDGE

A good defense has a fierce pass-rush. That's just a fact. The Broncos have several young pass rushers on defense, but none of them have yet stepped up to take over that alpha role that Von Miller used to have and even Bradley Chubb had for a short time in Denver. However, with the way that Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto improved in 2023, one of them could take an even bigger leap in 2024.

Cooper started all 17 games, and Bonitto was winning and insane amount of his pass-rush reps against the opposition. Frankly, I could not care less which of the two ends up taking a leap forward. It may be both, but it also may be neither of them.

To me, though, it feels like if Denver does have an alpha pass-rusher inside their building, it's one of Cooper or Bonitto, and having this game-wrecker is going to make life a lot easier for the defense and could help them go from being one of the worst units in football in 2023 to one of the better units in 2024.

Marvin Mims Jr, WR

The wide receiver position is becoming more valuable in the NFL, an we're now seeing elite wide receiver contracts easily break the $30 million per year mark. It's truly insane. As of now, the Broncos best WR is Courtland Sutton, but he's not a WR1 anymore. He's a fine deep-ball player and an elite red-zone threat, but week to week, is not someone who is going to put up the production that you hope from the WR1.

The Broncos will eventually need to find a player like this, but the best candidate to take this role over in 2024 could be Marvin Mims Jr, who is only in year two and has a ton of attractive qualities that could help him develop into a WR1. We saw just how explosive he was in his limited snaps on offense in 2023, and he was quickly among the best return specialists in his rookie season, which is quite impressive.

We have not heard Marvin Mims' named called a lot this offseason, but I have a theory that maybe Sean Payton and the offense was actually trying to hide him a bit from the attention. If you consider this to be silly, consider that Payton openly admitted that they manufactured interest in wanting to draft JJ McCarthy to ensure they got Bo Nix.

If Marvin Mims Jr can make the year two leap and establish himself as WR1 in the NFL, the Broncos offense is going to be that much better.