Broncos' defense embracing lofty expectations after ‘monstrous' additions

New York Times

22-07-2025

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The summer window can close painfully fast in the NFL ecosystem. Just ask Pat Surtain II. One week ago, the star cornerback, the league's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, was in Greece, smoking a cigar with Michael Jordan and other star athletes tied to the Jordan Brand. On Tuesday, Surtain was staring out at the Denver Broncos' training facility, the first practice of his fifth season now just one day away.
Advertisement
Summer, we hardly knew ya.
'The offseason treated me well. I enjoyed it while I could,' Surtain said with a grin on Tuesday as he and the rest of the team's veterans reported for training camp. 'It went by fast to say the least, but now we're here.'
#BroncosCountry LIVE: CB Pat Surtain II meets the media https://t.co/zoIuW76u6U
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) July 22, 2025
Helping to cushion the jarring return to reality for Surtain and the Broncos is an eagerness to begin what they hope will be a fruitful journey in 2025. The team surprised many across the league last season by winning 10 games and snapping a nine-year playoff drought. Naturally, expectations have grown, no more so than inside Denver's building.
'We've still got a lot of goals to accomplish as a team,' Surtain said. 'We're going to take it day by day in camp, keep sharpening iron and keep getting better.'
The arrival at camp was hardly a time for grand proclamations about what the horizon could bring. Veteran right tackle Mike McGlinchey, asked whether Denver has what it needs to pursue a championship this season, offered a gentle reminder: 'We haven't even practiced yet. … We've got a long way to go.'
One thing McGlinchey does feel comfortable predicting: the Surtain-powered defense that he and the Bo Nix-led offense are set to face every day in camp is going to provide a massive challenge. Nearly every member of the front seven that produced a team-record 63 sacks in 2024 has returned, including All-Pro selections Nik Bonitto and Zach Allen. They are joined by two new faces in linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga, former teammates of McGlinchey's with the San Francisco 49ers. They were signed to shore up what head coach Sean Payton calls the 'spine' of the defense.
'They are monstrous additions for us defensively,' McGlinchey said. 'The two of them bring such an energy. The defensive side of the football is very emotional, an energetic style of play. You can feel Dre Greenlaw when he steps on the field. You can feel Huff when he makes plays in the box or takes a chance on a great interception. Those two are going to help us tremendously this year. I'm happy to be back on the same side as them.'
Advertisement
Greenlaw missed Denver's offseason program while rehabbing from a quad injury, but Payton previously said the veteran linebacker would be cleared for training camp. The Broncos have 'acclimation' workouts on Wednesday and Thursday before taking the field in front of about 800 fans for their first full camp practice on Friday. A return to San Francisco for a joint practice against the 49ers and the preseason opener to follow come next week.
It shouldn't take long then for an idea of just how potent this defensive unit can be to materialize. The Broncos in 2024 led the NFL in efficiency, according to TruMedia's EPA (expected points added) per snap metric. They ranked seventh in yards allowed (317.1 per game), third in red-zone efficiency (46.9 percent opponent touchdown rate) and opponent scoring (18.3 per game). Flaws were exposed late in the season, when injuries to safety P.J. Locke and cornerback Riley Moss revealed a lack of depth in the secondary that was exposed in losses to the Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals — and even during a narrow win against the Cleveland Browns.
The Broncos responded by adding Hufanga, who was an All-Pro player for a top-ranked 49ers defense in 2022 before dealing with injuries the past two seasons. They used their first-round pick on versatile defensive back Jahdae Barron, who could supplant Ja'Quan McMillian at the nickel spot or fit in elsewhere as something of a Swiss Army knife for coordinator Vance Joseph's defense.
'He's very smart and savvy and understands the game well,' Surtain said of Barron, who signed his rookie contract just before he and the rest of Denver's first-year players arrived at camp last week. 'The coaches move him around to different positions. That's harder to learn coming in as a rookie, especially with VJ's playbook, but it feels like he's handling it pretty well. It seems like he's up to schedule on things, so I'm excited to see what he's going to do.'
There are questions about Denver's defense that training camp will help answer, including what Barron's ultimate role will be. Can Moss take another developmental leap after impressing for much of his first season as a starter opposite Surtain? Will rookies Sai'vion Jones and Que Robinson make an early impact to further solidify the team's front-seven depth? Will Greenlaw and fellow starter Alex Singleton, who spent the offseason program rehabbing from last September's ACL injury, form the kind of inside linebacker duo the Broncos haven't had since Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevathan were patrolling the middle of the team's vaunted 2015 defense?
Advertisement
The answers will come in time and will go a long way toward determining what kind of ceiling Payton's third team in Denver can have in 2025. The team is expecting a jump out of Nix following an impressive rookie season. But if the Broncos have assembled the kind of defense they think they have, the next month will include some frustrating days for the young quarterback.
'Starting up front with the guys we retained and have coming back for this year, I feel like it's going to be even better, just knowing how much we rush and how much we care about one another,' linebacker Nik Bonitto said. 'And then you go to the back end with the additions of (Hufanga) and all the guys they have back there with (Brandon) Jones, PS2, Jahdae and all these guys. Dre is going to be real good for us, too. I'm just excited.'
(Top photo of Pat Surtain: C. Morgan Engel / Getty Images)