Jonah

Elliss

Elliss suffered a lower-leg injury on his right leg in Week 6. Broncos head coach Sean Payton said Wednesday that the injury is not season-ending, but did not rule out a stint on injured reserve. Either way, it sounds like Elliss will miss Week 7 and potentially more.

Surtain has been out since injuring his pec in Week 8. The Broncos will also be without LB Alex Singleton, who recently underwent a successful procedure to remove a tumor, and LB Jonah Elliss (hamstring). These are tough losses for a defense tasked with containing the Chiefs’ offense, but the unit as a whole remains strong.

Elliss (6’2/248) followed in the footsteps of his father, Luther, who also attended Utah and is a former first-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions. A former high school track athlete who ran a personal best 11.41s 100 meters, he saw consistent rotational snaps at LB as a true freshman before slotting into the starting lineup at EDGE in 2022. Elliss had a nondescript start after acclimating to the position change but finished strong, recording 18 of his 25 pressures and all three of his sacks over his last five games. He made the leap in 2023 by finishing second nationally with 12.0 sacks despite playing in just 10 games before sustaining a season-ending injury. Slightly undersized with a frenetic rush style, Elliss gets off the ball in a flash and attacks his opponents with expansive 10.5-inch hands so he can shed and make secondary effort plays. He is an unrelenting motor with a varied moveset but is likely ill-equipped for edge-setting duty against NFL-sized left tackles and needs to work on his counters. Elliss will likely see action on passing downs early on but could eventually work his way into a starting role if things break right.