Denver Broncos: Von Miller the favorite to topple Bruce Smith

The NFL is filled with plenty of impressive records. Some of them might even be held by former Denver Broncos. So what’s one worth noting?

In an era filled with throwing the football, men who can sack the quarterback are at a greater premium than ever before. That is why people should be paying more attention to the all-time league sack record. One would think a player in this modern age would hold it. Instead the mark belongs to Hall of Famer Bruce Smith, who played a prolonged career and retired as the only pass rusher in NFL history to reach 200 sacks.

Reggie White has 198 but after that, there is a steep drop off with Kevin Greene having 160 and Julius Peppers having 155.5. It’s worth wondering if anybody can ever approach a mark like that again. Peppers has played 15 years in the league and is still four seasons worth of production away. ESPN took to exploring the matter and their stat projector Bill Barnwell believes the one man with a reasonable chance to do it is Broncos superstar Von Miller

"“Miller, on the other hand, has been more consistent. Outside of 2013, when he was limited to nine games by a suspension and a torn ACL, he has missed just one game as a pro. He has racked up at least 10 sacks in each of his full seasons and is on pace to finish with 15 sacks this campaign. It’s also true that he has had only one otherworldly season, back when he racked up 18.5 sacks in 2012.Plug in 15 sacks for 2018 and Miller is at 98.5 sacks through his age-29 campaign. Favorite Toy looks favorably upon that consistency and suggests Miller has a 32.4 percent shot of knocking off Smith atop the sack charts.”"

Von Miller must hope his body holds out to have a shot

At the current pace Miller has set for himself, he should break the record by his 249th career NFL game. For those who don’t care to do the math, that would be somewhere in his 15th season. That would be 2025 and he’d be 36-years old at the time. Not impossible by any stretch. Great pass rushers have shown an ability to extend their success well into their 30s. In fact, the records show the best ones were able to produce a 10-sack season at the age of 37.

So this is doable from Miller’s perspective. It requires two things. That he stay healthy for the length of that stretch and that he actually wish to continue playing deep into his 30s. A lot of players tend to call it a career before getting that far. Miller already has his ring, so at this point he’s playing for money and for his legacy. Adding the title of all-time sack leader to that list might be a hard thing to pass up.