Broncos EDGE Nik Bonitto aims to flip his breakout into a 2026 Defensive Player of the Year push

The Denver Broncos have an edge defender entering 2026 with a story that already includes two distinct chapters. Nik Bonitto was selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft as the 64th overall pick from Oklahoma, arriving with the type of promise that comes with a mid-first step in a draft position. But his first season did not match the hype, and for stretches it looked like his NFL runway would be shorter than anyone in Denver wanted.

According to the account framing his outlook for 2026, Bonitto’s rookie production lagged, totaling 1.5 sacks and struggling in run defense. For a young pass rusher, that combination can change the way a defense uses you, and it can slow a development arc that teams expect to accelerate quickly at the NFL level. The criticism, as described, even reached the “bust” conversation among some fans, a label that tends to follow players who cannot consistently contribute in the foundational areas of a defensive role.

Then the narrative shifted. In year two, Bonitto’s production jumped in a way that suggested his physical tools and technique were finally landing. The same reporting notes that he produced 8 sacks under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, a leap that placed him back on the kind of track that makes a player relevant to league-wide awards. In practical terms, the key is not only generating pressure, but also doing it while the coaching staff has confidence you can handle the full workload, including the run.

A Defensive Player of the Year conversation often turns on visibility, and sacks are the kind of statistic that follows a player into the spotlight. The difference for Bonitto is that the 2026 framing connects that visibility to a prior second-year improvement, not just to one hot stretch. If Denver sees a player who can combine pass-rush productivity with a steadier defensive foundation, it becomes easier to justify moving him from “impact player” to “defense-defining piece.”

Denver, of course, has to match the individual story with an overall defense that can finish games and force the type of late downs that create opportunities for edge rushers. A pass rusher’s sack totals are influenced by coverage choices, interior pressure, and game script. The point of calling Bonitto a DPOY candidate in 2026, then, is not that a single skill set guarantees a league award, but that his profile, now supported by a second-year spike, fits the archetype voters often recognize.

There is also a baseline of uncertainty that comes with writing any preseason or year-ahead award projection. The earlier years include both low production and a later breakthrough, which is the exact pattern that can either become a sustained climb or fade back toward the mean. For Bonitto, the question that will be answered over the course of the 2026 season is whether the “second-year explosion” becomes a repeatable defensive identity, rather than a one-time peak.

What to watch next is straightforward, even if the outcome is not. Denver will look for continued growth in his ability to impact not just passing situations, but the run as well, since the earlier criticism was tied to stopping it. If Bonitto can keep pressuring quarterbacks while also holding his ground in run defense, the 2026 DPOY storyline becomes more than a draft-day biography and turns into a season-long argument.