Broncos Edge Baron Browning missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with a concussion. That makes him look likely to miss Sunday's game against the Chargers. Fortunately for Denver, Edge Nik Bonitto appears to be trending toward returning after missing the past two games. he followed a limited Wednesday workout with a full practice Thursday. Missing Browning won't be good, but the swap shouldn't mean a significant difference for the Broncos team defense in a high-upside matchup with Easton Stick and the Chargers.
The Broncos are releasing veteran Edge Randy Gregory. That's not an especially impactful IDP move itself. Gregory has just 9 tackles and 1 sack through four games. His playing time dipped the past two weeks, from 64%+ the first two games to 47% and 46% in the last two. The move does remove a hurdle from the outlooks of Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper, who have each seen increases in playing time and good production through four games. Both sit top 15 among D-linemen (depending on your format). Denver does have Frank Clark and Baron Browing approaching injury returns, which will challenge the roles of Cooper and Bonitto. But we'll wait to see how that all shakes out before downgrading the guys currently succeeding. Cooper and Bonitto have climbed up our rest-of-season DL rankings and sit especially high in our Week 5 DL rankings, ahead of a meeting with the Jets.
The Dolphins are sending RB Chase Edmonds and 2 draft picks to the Broncos for EDGE Bradley Chubb. The Broncos are getting a 2023 first-rounder that initially belonged to San Francisco, as well as a 4th-rounder in 2024. Miami will get a 5th-rounder in 2025. Chubb upgrades a Dolphins pass rush that ranks just 23rd in sacks and has dealt with some injuries. He's in the final year of his rookie deal, so we'd bet on an extension following. Edmonds played his way out of the starting backfield gig in Miami but lands in a Denver offense that presents opportunity. We'll see about the team's RB plans coming out of the Week 9 bye, though we wouldn't bet on any of the Denver backs truly taking over. Chubb's departure should mean more playing time for 2nd-round rookie EDGE Nik Bonitto, who has 1.5 sacks over his past 2 games. Myles Gaskin looks like the #2 RB in Miami now.
The Broncos grabbed EDGE Nik Bonitto in the 2nd round of the NFL Draft. He racked up 26.5 tackles for loss over the past 2 seasons at Oklahoma, including 16 sacks. Bonitto checks in a little small for the position – 6’3, 248 pounds – but ran fast at the Combine. His 4.54-second 40-yard dash registered a 92nd-percentile speed score. He figures to draw an LB designation at least early in Denver, where he might also be blocked early from big playing time.
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