Broncos Defender Calls Out PFF for Disrespecting All-Pro Teammate

At this point, the burr PFF has under its saddle over the Broncos can't be denied. Despite boasting the No. 1 defensive player in the NFL — Patrick Surtain II — the Broncos' feared shutdown corner didn't rank first in PFF's cornerback rankings.

PFF ranked Broncos quarterback Bo Nix well outside the top-15 (at No. 19), despite his metrics placing him as a fringe top-10 guy. Even Bonitto himself, who finished third in the NFL last year with 13.5 sacks, wasn't ranked top-10 by PFF, and his edge-rushing partner, Jonathon Cooper (10.5 sacks), didn't even make the top-32.

Broncos running back RJ Harvey projects as the team's top running back in 2025, even though, as a rookie, he has to start the offseason training program lower on the depth chart behind guys like Audric Estime and Jaleel McLaughlin. PFF didn't include Harvey in its top-32 running backs, although four other rookies made it, as if it forgot that he's the projected RB1 in a Sean Payton offense quarterbacked by Nix and rushing behind an offensive line that finished as top one or two in the NFL.

This obvious Broncos shade isn't a new phenomenon at PFF. Last year, PFF ranked the Broncos' quarterback position dead last in the NFL, which was laughable then, and can only be viewed as pure comedy now.

The incongruency doesn't end there. PFF had the nerve to rank the Broncos' 2024 roster last in the NFL, only to give it a No. 5 ranking this year. And yet, at the individual level, very few of the noteworthy Broncos at the respective positions crack PFF's top five. Again, even guys deserving of the No. 1 spot — like Surtain — are inexplicably given short shrift by PFF.

Remember, five Broncos made the AP's All-Pro Team — the most since the 1990s. This team led the league in sacks, fielded a top-five defense, and a top-15 offense (with a rookie quarterback). Yes, we know that Denver has one of the best rosters in the NFL now, and that should be reflected in PFF's ubiquitous offseason positional rankings, but it hasn't been.

Many will view this as PFF falling further from grace. 10 years ago, the publication really stormed onto the scene as the leading football analytics giant, but through a cryptic grading system that produces questionable results, ridiculous, ill-informed rankings, and shallow offseason lists, PFF has increasingly become more of a laughing stock.

That's doubly true in Broncos Country. No fan who frequents Broncos sites regularly cares to read anything with PFF in the headline nowadays. It wasn't always this way, though.

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The Broncos will use the shade and disrespect as fuel. Guys like Bonitto, Allen, and Nix will take stock and embrace the 'let 'em hate' rallying cry behind closed doors.

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