Player
Jonathon Cooper
EDGE · DEN
Jonathon Cooper: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
Career arc: a 7th-round pick — the 239th name in the 2021 draft — who's now the longest-tenured starter on a top-5 pass rush.
TrendCooper regular-season defensive line by year
| Year | G | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | 2.5 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| 2022 | 13 | 2.0 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| 2023 | 17 | 8.5 | 13 | 8 | 1 |
| 2024 | 17 | 10.5 | 20 | 11 | 1 |
| 2025 | 17 | 8.0 | 16 | 8 | 0 |
Sacks per season
| Season | Sacks |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 2.5 |
| 2022 | 2 |
| 2023 | 8.5 |
| 2024 | 10.5 |
| 2025 | 8 |
Cooper went 239th overall out of Ohio State in 2021 — a 7th-round pick on a player who was a 6-year starter for the Buckeyes but graded as a depth-piece by the league. The first two years (2.5 + 2.0 sacks) looked like the league was right.
Then 2023 happened: 8.5 sacks. Then 10.5 in 2024. Then 8.0 through Week 13 of 2025. Three straight seasons of starter-level production from a player who was supposed to be a rotational backup.
Sacks per game by season: a sudden, sustained jump from 0.2 to 0.6.
SplitSacks-per-game progression
| Year | G | Sacks | S/G |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-2022 (rotational) | 25 | 4.5 | 0.18 |
| 2023-2025 (starter) | 51 | 27.0 | 0.53 |
The before/after is dramatic. As a rotational rusher in his first two years, Cooper produced 0.18 sacks per game — backup numbers. Over the next three seasons as a full-time starter, 0.53 sacks per game — a top-20 EDGE pace.
The trigger wasn't a position change or a coaching staff turnover. Vance Joseph took over as DC in 2023 and Cooper's snap count jumped from ~40% to ~75%. The production scaled directly with the opportunity.
He's matched the career production of every 2021 1st-round EDGE — from pick #239.
ComparisonCooper vs 2021 EDGE class
| Player | Round | Pick | Career sacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Rousseau | 1 | 30 | 32.0 |
| Jonathon Cooper | 7 | 239 | 31.5 |
| Kwity Paye | 1 | 21 | 30.5 |
| Odafe Oweh | 1 | 31 | 30.5 |
| Jaelan Phillips | 1 | 18 | 28.0 |
| Azeez Ojulari | 2 | 50 | 22.0 |
Cooper's 31.5 career sacks from pick #239 essentially matches every first-round EDGE in his class: Rousseau (32.0), Paye (30.5), Oweh (30.5), Phillips (28.0). He's tied for 2nd in career sacks from a class that spent five first-round picks on edge rushers.
The 2021 EDGE class is a draft-grade case study: the top-end produced solid NFL starters, but the late-round was barren — and the lone day-three hit was Cooper, taken after most teams had checked out. Per dollar of draft capital spent, he may be the best edge value of the 2020s.
The 2024 Broncos pass rush had 63 sacks — best in football. Cooper was 16% of it.
MilestoneDenver's record pass rush, edge production
| Year | Team sacks | Cooper share | Bonitto share | League rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 42.0 | 20.2% | 19.0% | 12th |
| 2024 | 63.0 | 16.7% | 21.4% | 1st |
| 2025 | 68.0 | 11.8% | — | 1st |
Denver's 2024 pass rush led the entire NFL with 63 sacks — the most by any team in the database since 2017. Cooper's 10.5 was 16.7% of that, second only to Nik Bonitto's 13.5.
The 2025 Broncos are on pace to surpass even that — already 68 team sacks through 17 games — but Cooper's share has dropped to 11.8% as the rest of the defensive line (Zach Allen, John Franklin-Myers, the rookie additions) has stepped up. The whole defense has gotten deeper; Cooper has stayed steady.
In 2025 he's produced 6 half-sacks and only 5 solo sacks — half his finishes are split with a teammate.
AnomalyCooper's solo vs half-sack split, year by year
| Year | Full sacks | Half sacks | Half-sack share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 8 | 1 | 5.6% |
| 2024 | 9 | 3 | 14.3% |
| 2025 | 5 | 6 | 37.5% |
League average for an edge rusher's half-sack share is around 15-20%. In 2023 Cooper was well below that (5.6%) — he was finishing his own pressures. In 2025 he's at 37.5% — every other sack is shared.
This is the Denver schematic effect at work. Their 2025 pressure packages run more line games and twists with two rushers converging on the QB; both get credited with half a sack. Cooper's pure pass-rush production hasn't declined — his ability to take the QB down alone has.
His two career 2-sack games came against the AFC East — Week 1 vs Seattle and Week 6 vs the Jets.
SplitCooper's biggest single-game outings
| Year | Wk | Opp | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | vs SEA | 2.0 | 4 | 2 |
| 2025 | 6 | vs NYJ | 2.0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2023 | 2 | vs WAS | 2.0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2021 | 9 | vs DAL | 2.0 | 2 | 2 |
Cooper has just four career 2-sack outings — and notably zero career 3-sack games. Like Harold Landry, his profile is volume-by-consistency rather than eruption.
The 2024 Week 1 Seattle opener was his career-best pressure game (4 QB hits) and set the tone for the 10.5-sack season. The 2-sack performance against the Jets in 2025 Week 6 was the same play in a different uniform — schemed pressure, well-timed counters, and the QB on the ground twice.
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