Broncos GM Lays Out Firm Year 2 Expectation for OLB Jonah Elliss

While cautioning "you can't be overly patient," Denver Broncos general manager George Paton lent confidence — and an undisguised expectation — that backup outside linebacker Jonah Elliss will take a developmental step forward in his second NFL season.

"Look at Nik Bonitto," Paton told reporters during Monday's league meetings in Florida. "Last year at this time did we think Nik Bonitto would be an All-Pro player? I don’t think anyone would have said that. It’s a credit to Sean, it’s a credit to the staff how they develop these young players to take that next step. They all grow at different areas. Like we talked about, [CB] Pat Surtain [II] walked in the door. He was Pat Surtain, but a lot of these guys, some get it in the second year, some get it in the third year. You can’t be overly patient, but you just have to keep developing your young players.”

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The Broncos made Elliss the No. 76 overall pick in last year's draft despite already being strong at the position with Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper, who later signed a long-term contract extension. The former Utah All-American nevertheless flashed with seven tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, five sacks, and two pass breakups across 434 defensive snaps, earning Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team honors.

"We felt on the college tape, a lot of times you’ll see one move: power, maybe speed. We felt like saw a few different things, and we saw athleticism. Again we kind of knew the background [and] the make-up," Broncos head coach Sean Payton said last November of Elliss, the younger brother of Falcons LB Kaden Elliss. "I think it was the football make-up and the versatility, but also the player and the vision for what we saw him doing.”

To the above comparison, Bonitto totaled eight sacks in 2023 before breaking out for 13.5 last season, finishing third in the NFL while capturing Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro selections. He's now angling toward a lucrative extension, regarded among the sport's premier pass-rushers.

It could prove a bit difficult in his current role, but the Broncos obviously are hoping that Elliss follows a similar career arc.

“When you look at the day-to-day, you look at the practice, and you look at the skillset," Paton explained. "Is there one trait? What’s a dominant trait? Nik Bonitto, man, we knew he had a dominant trait. When was it going to click? When was the light going to turn on? So you can see it in practice, you can see it by how they are day-to-day and how they are in the weight room, in the conditioning drills. Nik—he always worked hard. You felt like it would come, and he got his opportunity and shoot, we traded a good player away in [Cardinals OLB] Baron Browning because we could see Nik in practice with what he was doing. So you just look for those little traits. It’s hard to give up on a player like that.”