The Denver Broncos certainly had an interesting 2025 NFL Draft. Let's highlight the three biggest takeaways from the draft weekend. Since the start of the 2025 NFL Offseason, the Denver Broncos did improve their roster and should be a better team this year.
The natural progression of a team returning a ton of starters with a strong coaching staff should have a huge impact, and the talent added in the NFL Draft should also be key here as well. Some of us are not huge fans of the draft class that Denver brought fourth, but only time will tell if it is the right class.
Let's highlight three key takeaways from the Broncos draft class.
Broncos NFL Draft: What did the 2025 class tell us?
1. The team clearly wants to build on a strength and get better on defense
The team took CB Jahdae Barron, EDGE Que Robinson, and DE Sa'vion Jones in the 2025 NFL Draft, clearly investing in a strength and wanting to keep this unit atop the NFL, and this comes after the team re-signed DJ Jones, and signed safety Talanoa Hufanga and linebacker Dre Greenlaw in free agency.
A good defense does help a young QB and the offense itself, and it's clear that improving the defense was even as important as adding more talent to the offense this offseason.
2. The draft board absolutely did not fall in the Broncos favor
I am willing to bet George Paton and Sean Payton did not think the NFL Draft board fell the way they expected it to be, and in my view, that's a primary reason why they traded back twice after the first round. Think about it - with huge needs at running back and tight end, Denver came away with a 24-year-old running back who isn't good in pass protection and a seventh-round tight end who plays basketball.
Simply put, some of their key targets came off the board, and the Broncos had to adjust and try to make up some of that ground.
3. The team seems to love 'their guys' already present on offense
The team did use two top-75 picks on offensive players in RJ Harvey and Pat Bryant, but the consensus on each player does indicate that both were slightly overdrafted. However you slice it, it's clear that the Broncos are high on the guys they already have on the team on offense.
It was not a total overhaul of the playmakers, and perhaps us as fans need to understand that this coaching staff and front office are confident in their abilities, so I am sure Sean Payton feels the same way about developing some of these players to help them hit their stride.