The Denver Broncos have their franchise quarterback in place, which has made the 2025 offseason relatively stress-free in many ways. The Broncos have the fortunate pleasure of being able to build around Bo Nix as opposed to having to conceal their interest in him, hoping he falls to their pick.
The future is much more well-defined for the Denver Broncos with Nix in place, but they still need to nail the 2025 NFL Draft. Surrounding Nix is right next on the list of importance behind finding him in the first place. The Broncos have spent a boatload of money upgrading the defense over the last handful of years, which means that logically, we'd shift our attention to the other side of the ball in the 2025 NFL Draft.
As obvious as the strategy seems to be, there are still a number of ways the Broncos could get too cute in the draft or perhaps make some mistakes they'd eventually live to regret.
3 mistakes the Broncos must avoid in the 2025 NFL Draft at all costs
1. Taking a safety in the first round
There are few position groups that you would look at in this year's draft class and say, "The Broncos should avoid that spot in the first round" but the safety position is one of them. The Broncos landed Brandon Jones in NFL Free Agency last year before signing Talanoa Hufanga this year, and they have drafted or added a number of other guys at that position who can contribute defensively and on special teams.
If Malaki Starks or Nick Emmanwori happens to be the best player on the board when the Broncos are picking, they should simply go to the next best player on the board if the gap isn't significant. The safety position is so far down the list of priorities right now that it might legitimately be the one position in the first round -- outside of quarterback or designated special teams guys -- that makes absolutely no sense for this team.
2. Forgetting about top WRs production in 2023
One of the position groups that's being overly slept on in the 2025 NFL Draft class is wide receiver. The top receivers in the crop are generally considered to be players like Matthew Golden of Texas, Tetairoa McMillan of Arizona, Luther Burden of Missouri, and Emeka Egbuka of Ohio State. It's not a group that includes a Malik Nabers or Marvin Harrison Jr., but it's a solid group of top-end receivers.
Part of the reason why these guys are being slept on is the fact that a number of them had "down" years in 2024 compared to 2023. It would be a massive mistake to negate what guys like Tet McMillan and Luther Burden put on tape in 2023 just because of a down year in 2024.
We all know that so much of the NFL and NFL Draft is about what you've done for me lately, but NFL teams don't just scout one year of a player. They have to take into account the entire picture of his college career. Progression is certainly a huge factor, but if a guy had a tough go in 2024, why?
For McMillan, injuries played a factor. For Burden, it was shaky quarterback play. Egbuka is a great reminder of the importance of sticking with your conviction on a guy because he had a down year in 2023 and bounced back very nicely in 2024.
3. Thinking you need "balance"
Having a balanced draft class on offense and defense is a mythical moral victory. Teams have to fill out their rosters, but taking a defensive player just for the sake of having balance in your draft class is as bad of a strategy as scouting a guy based on of the college he played at.
If the Broncos want to go all offense in this draft, then they should do it. They have one of the most expensive defenses in the NFL and have invested so much on that side of the ball in NFL free agency (and re-signing their own guys) that it would almost be unwise to skip out on the offensive side of the ball.
The Broncos don't need to neglect the defense completely, but this draft class should reflect the team's desperate need to properly surround Bo Nix with talent at the skill positions.