Sean Payton Breaks Silence on Broncos' New Surprise Starter

The Denver Broncos have a new starter at outside linebacker opposite of Randy Gregory.

Jonathon Cooper made the leap from being a Denver Broncos seventh-round draft pick to earning a starting job at outside linebacker in Year 3. Factoring in the heart condition that tanked his draft stock in 2021 and nearly cost Cooper his NFL career, it makes one believe that fairy tale stories can still happen in the NFL. 

When new head coach Sean Payton took control of the rudderless Broncos operation, rewarding those who performed well in practice became a core principle. Fast forward to early September, and with meaningful football starting on Sunday vs. the Las Vegas Raiders, Cooper landing in the starting lineup is a decision Payton appears entirely comfortable with.

"With Cooper, you know exactly his strengths, his weaknesses, how he helps us in the kicking game," Payton said on Wednesday. "He's physical. Those are things that have served him well."

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Sheer consistency and the ability to contribute on special teams have clearly given Cooper the edge to the starting job, but it's inevitable that Pro Bowl veteran Frank Clark will still see plenty of snaps in his role as a situational pass rusher. 

"I would say he's been consistent," Payton said of Cooper. "He's explosive, and I think he's been very physical." 

Payton's desire for the Broncos to take things up a notch and play more aggressive football also helped vault the physically gifted 25-year-old Cooper into the starting lineup.

"How the ball is attacked defensively here is much more aggressive," Payon said. "We're trying to hit on some of these things that over time, you've seen from experience, so that it's not a traumatic event that's forcing us to."

Payton's year-long absence from coaching hasn't seen him lose any of his touch and feel for how the league ebbs and flows. The Broncos head coach's approach to the game is rooted in modern-day thinking, and perhaps more than ever. Therefore, Payton views rotating high numbers of personnel as a prerequisite to success — especially over an arduous 17-game season.

That's led to Payton assembling his first official Broncos depth chart with youth and physicality as core foundation stones to build upon and Cooper exemplifies the type of player the head coach values on the roster. 

But Payton will use a lot of different personnel groupings to keep Denver's opponents on their heels. 

"All of those guys are going to play," Payton said. "Sunday will be the first time we introduce an offense or defense. The first play of the game could be one of 25 personnel groupings, so tell me who the starter is. What I try to do is one week the fullback will go out and the next week it might be the third receiver. I might introduce 12 on offense. The same thing begins to take place on defense. It's a little different than it was 25 years ago."

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