Denver Broncos select Oklahoma linebacker Nik Bonitto in 2022 NFL Draft

The Denver Broncos had Oklahoma linebacker Nik Bonitto penciled in on its list of potential draftees. He spent the past four years with the Sooners, working his way up to eventually become one of the team leaders on defense.

That plus months of pre-draft evaluation led the Denver Broncos to ultimately pull the trigger, selecting him No. 64 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft on Friday.

Pro Football Focus named Bonitto the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year this past season after he finished with 39 tackles (15 for loss), seven sacks and three fumble recoveries. He was also named second team All-Big 12 by the league’s coaches. The Sooners claimed conference championships in each of Bonitto’s first three seasons, but failed to make the game this past year.

Bonitto was a four-star recruit coming out of high school in 2018, and ranked as the No. 24 linebacker in the class according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average. He redshirted his first season in Norman, playing in only three games. The next season, he started as a backup linebacker before earning a starting role for the final eight games of the year. He broke out as a redshirt sophomore, finishing with 33 tackles (11.5 for loss), nine sacks and 10 quarterback hurries to earn first-team All-American honors from the AP.

At the NFL Combine in March, Bonitto performed in the defensive end drills rather than at linebacker. He posted a 40-yard dash time of 4.54, which ranked fifth among the defensive ends who participated. He also posted a time of 7.07 seconds in the three-cone drill, which ranked third.

Yahoo! Sports’ Eric Edholm on Nik Bonitto

Nik Bonitto has been on the radar of both NFL teams and scouts ever since his sophomore season at Oklahoma. Yahoo! Sports draft analyst Eric Edholm believes that is justified, but said in his scouting report that it could take time for the linebacker to adjust to the NFL.

“Bonitto won’t be a fit in every defensive system, likely best-served rushing from a two-point stance as a 3-4 outside linebacker,” Edholm wrote. “He could be weaponized as a pass-rush specialist for even-front defenses, but he likely will be drafted high enough where such a fit would be a bit rich, value-wise. Ideally, Bonitto would land with a team that understands he must add weight and strength and could be a breakout player in Year 2.”