The Denver Broncos' defense has had an incredible turnaround of late. The team allowed 70 points to the Miami Dolphins and was dead in the water. After a 1-5 start, the Broncos are now 4-5 with a two-game stretch of NINE takeaways, including four interceptions of Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes.
The defense has turned around completely from the start of the year, and is playing as one of the strongest units in football. As the unit heads into the second half of the year on a high note, it is time to acknowledge some of their best players. Here are three stars for the Broncos defense so far in 2023.
Third Star: OLB Jonathon Cooper
In his first season as a full-time starter, Jonathon Cooper has stepped up to the task. The former Ohio State Buckeye is sitting at 4.5 sacks through nine games, just one off from a team-high. Cooper entered the year with 4.5 sacks and 76 total tackles in his career. So far through his 2023 campaign, Cooper is on pace to rack up around 8.5 sacks, 80 tackles, 15 quarterback hits, and six tackles for losses.
Cooper's season was not anticipated to be this important, considering the Broncos started the year with Randy Gregory and Frank Clark on the outside. Cooper, matched with Nik Bonitto, has become a starter on the outside for the Broncos, and is having the best year of his young career. For this, Cooper earns our third star
Second Star: CBs Ja'Quan McMillian and Fabian Moreau
It was impossible to pick just one of these two, so we rolled with both. McMillian and Moreau did not get a chance to start games until the middle of the year, and boy have they made a difference. McMillian and Moreau have two interceptions to their names, one for each and one off of both Allen and Mahomes, and McMillian a forced fumble.
In his small sample size, McMillian has posted an 85.9 PFF grade, far and above what the Broncos could have reasonably expected from the second-year corner out of Eastern Carolina. Moreau is a journeyman corner who has been in the league for almost a decade, but in his short sample size, he has impressed as well, slotting in as the Broncos third corner behind McMillian and Pat Surtain II. The duo has been in the front of what has been a defensive renaissance for the Broncos, where all that was failed is successful again.
First Star: S Justin Simmons
Justin Simmons is going to go down as one of the greatest defensive players in the history of the Denver Broncos. Simmons, who has the most interceptions in football since he broke into the league in 2016, sits third in the league in picks through nine games.
Simmons has a part ownership stake in the career of Patrick Mahomes, considering how often the safety picks off the former MVP (more than any other defender in football). Simmons has continued to anchor the Broncos' defense in the secondary, despite he and Surtain being the only two starters from week one who have not found their way to either the bench or the suspended list.
Simmons is continuing his strong play as the free safety of the Broncos, and the safety is on pace to tie his interception mark from last year, which led the league. The Broncos' captain earns himself the Broncos' first star defensively and will be a key reason the team does or does not reach the playoffs in 2023.