The Denver Broncos are not equipped with the draft capital needed to make a big splash in the 2026 NFL Draft, but the board could always fall right for them. Players rise and fall every year during the draft process, with some teams whiffing on reaches and others finding gold in positions they were not expected to do so in.
The Broncos are going to need some luck with the draft board this year to land a few names, but expecting the board to look very different on draft night from its current form might not be a crazy idea. This draft is light on quarterbacks and blue-chip offensive linemen, two positions most teams are always looking at.
This could lead to a lot of movement on day two, as teams try to ensure they get one, causing other players to fall lower than initially thought. The good news for the Broncos is that they almost assuredly will not be in the market for a true blue-chip offensive line prospect, and any quarterback they draft would likely be QB4 unless the team moves on from Jarrett Stidham in a trade.
Other teams getting aggressive for specific positions with limited players could push better prospects further down the board, leaving better prospects than expected available when the Broncos are on the clock.
These three NFL Draft prospects could drop to the Denver Broncos at each of their first three selections
Round two, 62nd pick : RB Jadarian Price, Notre Dame
ESPN has mocked Jadarian Price to go as high as 32nd to the Seattle Seahawks, or as low as 64th to... the Seahawks. Denver sits two spots in front of the Seahawks in the second round, and George Paton would probably do back flips in the war room if Price were sitting there at the 62nd selection. He could be the perfect third back for a Broncos offense that wants to be able to utilize all three, and Price would fit perfectly into their running back room.
Round four, 108th pick: WR Skyler Bell, UConn
Skyler Bell is one of the more difficult prospects to project in the entire draft. He dominated college football to the tune of a receiving triple crown: tops in the country in receptions, receiving yards, and passing touchdowns. He led a UConn offense that scored 35 points per game on average.
Early mocks had him going as high as the second round, but recent projections, such as a recent one from NFL Network's Chad Reuter, have him going between Denver's two fourth-round selections. Bell is already 23 and will turn 24 in July, which might cause teams with longer plans in mind to pause before selecting him. A win-now team like the Broncos makes more sense and would also open the team to being able to trade the likes of Marvin Mims or Troy Franklin, two names at the top of the trade speculation list.
Round four, 111th pick: LB Josiah Trotter, Missouri
Josiah Trotter has been mocked to the Broncos at 62nd overall a few times, but fell as low as past Denver's two fourth-rounders in Reuter's recent mock. If he falls into the fourth and the Broncos were to snag him, it would be an absolute home run draft pick for Paton. Trotter is undoubtedly a top-75 talent, but a run on tackles or movement up in the draft for quarterbacks and playmakers could push him down the board. Pairing Trotter with Strnad long-term is a great plan, and cold finally fix the Broncos' lack of direction at inside linebacker.