With all the big names the Broncos have on defense, outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper slides under the radar a bit.
Denver drafted Cooper in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft, and was that ever a steal. He led the team in sacks during the 2023 season with 8.5, and then followed that up with 10.5 in 2024. Cooper has also recorded 216 total tackles in his career, along with two forced fumbles and an interception.
While listing his most underappreciated players on each roster, NFL analyst Tom Blair named Cooper for the Broncos.
"Cooper, Nik Bonitto and Zach Allen were the only three players from the same team to finish in the top 30 in total pressures in the NFL last season, according to Next Gen Stats -- and Cooper was the only member of that triumvirate not to receive a second-team All-Pro nod, a Pro Bowl honor or Defensive Player of the Year vote. So I'm doing what I can to balance the scales with the little power I have in my hands here. Like fellow 2021 draftees Patrick Surtain II and Quinn Meinerz, Cooper joined the franchise in the final year of the Vic Fangio era, going through Nathaniel Hackett's false-start reboot before finally blossoming under Sean Payton and Vance Joseph. Over the past two campaigns, Cooper totaled 19 sacks, cementing himself as a key piece of the Broncos' future. His parallel rise with the franchise serves as a reminder that, while organizational turnarounds can happen quickly, their roots are often traced to years of astute drafting and long-term player development."
The Broncos locked up Cooper to a four-year, $60 million extension midway through the 2024 season. After Denver went all out on the defensive side of the ball during the offseason, the unit could be the best in the entire league in 2025. As he has each of the past two years, Cooper will be right in the thick of it.
