The Denver Broncos have finally and mercifully addressed their most brutal offseason loss with John Franklin-Myers leaving in NFL Free Agency. After trading down and out of the 2nd round entirely, the Broncos selected Texas A&M defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim with the 66th overall pick.
Even without much pre-draft fanfare, the Broncos replenishing their defensive line with their top pick in this year's draft has always felt like a wise option for the team. Onyedim played four seasons at Iowa State before transferring this past year to play at Texas A&M where he set career-highs of 9.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
The Broncos traded up in the 3rd round of last year's draft to take LSU defensive lineman Sai'vion Jones, and now they get Onyedim as another talented and versatile weapon to help soften the blow of losing a top-flight pass rusher like John Franklin-Myers.
Denver Broncos' Tyler Onyedim pick lacks flash, but addresses a key need
Tyler Onyedim is a player people aren't talking about enough 🔊 pic.twitter.com/QkQJZdm2Oc
— Underdog NFL Draft - Josh & Hayden (@UDFootballShow) April 19, 2026
Tyler Onyedim played a lot of football at the collegiate level -- 53 games -- which is something we've seen has been extremely value to the Denver Broncos under head coach Sean Payton.
The guys with a lot of reps aren't always more NFL-ready, but they've logged a lot of time on task, and there's inherently value in that. For Onyedim, it was really about getting into a situation this past season where he could make a few more plays to get on the radar of NFL teams.
At Iowa State, as Dane Brugler alludes to above, there wasn't much opportunity for that as he was tasked with occupying space and taking up blockers. Getting to Texas A&M, we saw the production pop a bit, which definitely helped his NFL Draft case.
Even after playing 53 games in college, Onyedim is still just 22 years old going on 23 this year and will have a chance to crack a deep Denver Broncos' rotation immediately. He was actually teammates once upon a time with current Broncos defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike.
We know the Denver Broncos don't ever want to be lacking in two areas: The pass rush or the defensive backfield. This pick is more proof of their commitment to bringing pass rush in waves, and Onyedim has the skills to be an immediate contributor to one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL.
Despite the Broncos setting franchise records in sacks over the past two seasons, Onyedim is the only player on the unit selected in the top 100 overall by the team.
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