Vance Joseph Makes Curious Claim About Broncos OLBs' Draft Pedigree

Monday night's matchup with the Buffalo Bills is a reminder of the Denver Broncos' long pursuit to replace Von Miller. Bridging the gap created by the departure of a franchise icon and a probable first-ballot Hall-of-Famer can often take many years, but based on early 2023 returns, the Broncos might be ahead of the curve.

Much has happened on the Broncos' road to unearthing fresh solutions at the edge-rushing positions already. Denver's collective stumble coming out of the starting gate required defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to remain true to his core coaching beliefs.

"As a coach, when things are not going right, it's my job to find ways to make it better and to explain versus trying to dictate or coach with fear," Joseph said on Friday. "That never works. Just taking our time and finding ways to improve our defense quickly. That was my goal, and it's happening. It's not totally done yet. It's going to be a nice challenge on Monday night, but it's getting better."

The Broncos' recent draft classes have helped put Joseph in a position to stick to his grand vision for the defense. Over the last three drafts, Broncos GM George Paton has successfully unearthed a trio of players who are now tasked with filling the edge-rushing slots.

Rush linebacker Nik Bonitto arrived in 2022 via a second-round pick, and Jonathon Cooper was a seventh-round steal in 2021, while his fellow Ohio State Buckeye Baron Browning arrived as a third-rounder the same year.

This young triumvirate represents considerable value and massive youthful upside, especially if all three can continue on their ascending career trajectories. Joseph was put in a position whereby veterans like Randy Gregory and Frank Clark were jettisoned, so the youth movement was undoubtedly born out of necessity.

But the Broncos' faith in what they had in their three young rush linebackers has been unflinching, and it's paid dividends. Although he hasn't taken down a QB since Week Week 5, Bonitto leads the team with 5.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and 13 QB hits, while Cooper has 4.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, and eight QB hits. Browning returned from the PUP list in Week 7, and has already notched two sacks, a forced fumble, and three QB hits in two games.

No one has enjoyed these developments more than Joseph.

"It's been fun to watch," Joseph said. "Having Baron back is huge for us. He's a talent, and he's a young player at outside linebacker. He was an inside linebacker in college, and he came here as an inside linebacker. He's still growing as an outside linebacker. The talent is there, the mindset is there, and the power is there. Cooper, to me, has been a really good player for a long time who hasn't had the opportunities to show with multiple reps. He's been a solid, good football player for a long time. Bonitto is a talent. I'm not surprised that they are playing well, and they should play better moving forward. It's a good group. If you want to be a 3-4 defense, you have to have outside rushers, and we have three."

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Developing talent is a process that is often short on the time it requires in the modern-day NFL. It also needs coaches to understand that certain players, when they join the professional ranks, are not as polished as some of their contemporaries, but Joseph insists his guys aren't 'raw.'

"Not raw, they're just talented guys," Joseph said. "Baron and 'Coop,' if you know their story, played behind the Bosa boys and [49ers OLB Chase Young], who were both No. 1 picks. In college, they were not starters. They were backups playing inside linebacker and some outside linebacker. If those two kids go to different schools, they may be first-round picks, but they are really good players and really good kids. They work hard and they're getting better every week."

It goes without saying that Joseph would have loved to inherit the skills of Miller for the second time in his coaching career. Still, over the long haul, developing draft picks into productive starters is exactly what needed to happen for the Broncos to emerge from the doldrums of the past seven years.

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