Jonathon Cooper
Denver BroncosModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
STM Take
Tier 8 (#94, #104) rookie/sophomore years to back-to-back tier 5 finishes (#34, #36) in 2024-2025 is a clean developmental arc for a 7th-round pick. The Ohio State 2020 CFP National Championship Game pedigree plus the Vance Joseph scheme continuity appears to be the catalyst. The 2026 question is whether Cooper crosses into tier 4 territory or whether the structural tier 5 finish becomes the stable baseline as Denver's defensive transition continues.
Cooper came out of Ohio State as the Denver Broncos' 7th-round pick (239th overall) in 2021 after starting for the Buckeyes' 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship Game appearance. He spent two years as rotational depth before emerging into a starter role in 2023 under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. His STTM career runs tier 8 (#94) rookie, tier 8 (#104) in 2022, tier 7 (#52) in 2023, tier 5 (#34) in 2024, and tier 5 (#36) in 2025.
Strengths
- 60-spot career improvement from tier 8 (#94) rookie to tier 5 (#36) in year five for a 239th overall pick puts him in the outlier-positive class.
- Back-to-back tier 5 finishes (#34, #36) in 2024-2025 confirms the structural starter ceiling exists in the Vance Joseph scheme fit.
Concerns
- Career STTM range capped at tier 5 flags the realistic ceiling at top-40 EDGE rather than Pro Bowl territory.
- Denver's broader defensive identity dependency on Vance Joseph's continued tenure puts continued Cooper ceiling partly scheme-dependent.
What to watch: Whether Cooper crosses into tier 4 (top 30) in 2026, the threshold for confirming the structural ceiling can climb further.
Jonathon Cooper Injury StatusNot listed
Jonathon Cooper is not on the injury report as of Oct 7. Source: the official NFL injury report, refreshed daily.
Draft & College
He went about where consensus had him.
Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.
Of the 549 players taken as a late Day 3 pick between 2012 and 2021, 15% earned a second contract and 9% became starters. The median one started 0 career games.