2025 Denver Broncos Draft Class

[Draft Crazy]

Ian Book and Austin Ekelers brother (S from Wyoming) were both at rookie mini camp this week trying out for us.

 

[58crash]

Rank
22

Denver Broncos

• Round 1 (No. 20): CB Jahdae Barron, Texas
• Round 2 (No. 60): RB RJ Harvey, UCF
• Round 3 (No. 74): WR Pat Bryant, Illinois
• Round 3 (No. 101): Edge Sai'vion Jones, LSU
• Round 4 (No. 134): Edge Que Robinson, Alabama
• Round 6 (No. 216): P Jeremy Crawshaw, Florida
• Round 7 (No. 241): TE Caleb Lohner, Utah

GRADE: B-​

For months, we wondered if Sean Payton would get a “Joker.” Ultimately, he did -- for Vance Joseph’s defense. Denver’s D emerged as one of the league’s elite units last season, with shutdown corner Patrick Surtain II taking home Defensive Player of the Year. And now the Broncos have added Jahdae Barron, who just won the Jim Thorpe Award as college football’s top defensive back. Barron excelled in numerous roles as a starter for Texas over the past three seasons, displaying the kind of inside/outside versatility that’s all the rage in today’s NFL. Immediately following this first-round selection that took many by surprise -- just given Denver’s perceived needs entering the draft -- Daniel Jeremiah compared Barron to Cooper DeJean. That’ll play! Another pick that took many by surprise: Pat Bryant. The Broncos had a need at the receiver position, but they drafted Bryant far earlier than most anticipated. For what it’s worth, Payton says the Illinois product reminds him of Michael Thomas.

FAVORITE PICK​

RJ Harvey, running back. Maybe my inner fantasy nerd’s getting the best of me, but in Payton’s offense, I envision big things for this compact, shifty back with 4.4 speed.

SLEEPER​

Jeremy Crawshaw, punter. Punters are people, too! And Crawshaw was the only one drafted this year. Naturally, he’s Australian -- real punter pipeline they got going on over there. And with Riley Dixon departing in free agency, Crawshaw will be the man booting footballs into the mile-high air this coming fall.

 

[cdumler7]

I figure most will have the Broncos draft rated pretty low as they have a few picks that are off from consensus boards by the media. I think what I liked most about this draft is the Broncos saw the weaknesses of this team from last year and found players that fit those specific needs. They struggled against teams with multiple weapons that can attack in the pass game...Boom they get one of the most versatile CB's we've seen come into the league with Barron. They wanted more depth on the DL/replacement for JFM after this season and they did that. Broncos struggled getting anything going with the run game especially explosive plays. They end up drafting the most explosive RB in the entire draft.

They saw a hole in the passing game attacking over the middle. They add Engram in FA and Bryant who lived over the middle of the field in the draft. LB coverage and hey we get Greenlaw. More all around ability at Safety and come on down Hufanga.

The only area I would say they didn't improve as much as I would have liked is a big time NT for the run game and a consistent RB to help out on those short yardage situations. I'm guessing the run game they are hoping Estime can turn into that. Defensively I think we are going to struggle against some teams with really big OL's like Eagles, Ravens, and Bills.

 

[MileHigh64]

One of the other factors that I really liked was nearly all of our draft picks were team captains in college and all of them except out last pick stayed in the same location throughout their collegiate career. Paton and Payton value mature leadership and loyalty/consistency. They have a formula that I hope will translate much better than the flashy stats that usually go along with the mock draft boards. Fit for need - check | maturity, leadership - check | consistency - check. The Broncos draft formula seems pretty sound to me.

 

[cdumler7]

One of the other factors that I really liked was nearly all of our draft picks were team captains in college and all of them except out last pick stayed in the same location throughout their collegiate career. Paton and Payton value mature leadership and loyalty/consistency. They have a formula that I hope will translate much better than the flashy stats that usually go along with the mock draft boards. Fit for need - check | maturity, leadership - check | consistency - check. The Broncos draft formula seems pretty sound to me.

That is definitely another thing that Payton recognized coming to Denver is that this team was void of good leadership/great locker room culture. There was almost an expectation among players that we were going to lose. Last year was the first time I really saw pictures consistently of teammates hanging out outside of practices since the 2015 season. The QB's and their wives having weekly dinners for example. You see it in Nix calling every draft pick the night they were picked to welcome them to the team. I see players on their vacations watching film on flights. There is just a different mentality about the players they have compared to years past. This isn't just a job to them.

 

[cdumler7]

I've been hearing a lot of good things about Caleb Lohner. People saying he doesn't look lost out there. Considering how little football he has played that definitely is a good sign this early in his career. I still don't expect him to be much of anything, but hey 7th round pick getting any kind of value is huge.

 

[MileHigh64]

I've been hearing a lot of good things about Caleb Lohner. People saying he doesn't look lost out there. Considering how little football he has played that definitely is a good sign this early in his career. I still don't expect him to be much of anything, but hey 7th round pick getting any kind of value is huge.

I've heard similar good things about Lohner. He's a BIG dude.

 

[cdumler7]

I've heard similar good things about Lohner. He's a BIG dude.

Wouldn't shock me if he had like 15 catches and 7 of them end up being TD's this season.

 

[Draft Crazy]

7 td's for a rookie 7th round TE still learning the game would be insane but he is a great RZ threat. I am guessing we keep Lohner on the 53 and perhaps make him inactive for the first part of the season.