NFL DRAFT 2022

Broncos take edge rusher Nik Bonitto in 2022 NFL Draft

Apr 29, 2022, 7:35 PM | Updated: 7:54 pm

The Denver Broncos selected Nik Bonitto from Oklahoma with the No. 64 pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.

A standout pass rusher, Bonitto was the first pick the Broncos made in this week’s draft after dumping first and second-round picks in the Russell Wilson trade. All quarterbacks but one were available at the time of Denver’s second-round pick, not that they need a signal-caller anymore. Bonitto’s pick was acquired in the Von Miller trade.

What Bonitto will do is hopefully replace what Miller did best as the Broncos build what they hope is a Super Bowl contender around Wilson. One of the Broncos’ needs, a linebacker, Bonitto recorded 16 sacks in 21 games over the past two seasons as a Sooner.

The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2021 by Pro Football Focus, the 6-foot-3, 248-pound defensive player, ran a 4.54 40-yard dash. Bonitto had 115 tackles in the last three seasons in Norman, including 33 for a loss.

“Very excited, this game is about the quarterbacks. There’s some good quarterbacks in the West, so we gotta get after ’em,” Nathaniel Hackett said to DenverBroncos.com. “He can rush and that’s what we’re looking for. The more pass rushers we have the more exciting it is.”

Bonitto believes he’s a one of a kind speed rusher and he’s excited to joins a strong group of pass rushers; Bradley Chubb, Randy Gregory, Malik Reed and Jonathon Cooper.

“They’re a great team right now,” Bonitto told the media. “I’m looking to make a push and win a championship. That’s what I’m trying to add, that championship tradition and just come in and work.”

The rumor was that the Broncos would move higher into the second round in Friday’s NFL Draft, but that turned out to be just a rumor. A lot of picks before the Broncos selected seemed to be reaches as the draft broke pretty for the Orange and Blue. Bonitto may have been the Broncos’ man all along.

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