There's nothing quite like an NFL general manager waxing poetic about a Day 3 NFL Draft pick. Broncos general manager George Paton has had his share of NFL Draft steals in the last handful of years, and he's clearly hoping that Alabama EDGE rusher Que Robinson can be the latest.
The addition of Robinson in the 4th round of the 2025 NFL Draft was one of a wide variety of rather shocking picks by the Broncos, but Paton is a firm believer that you can never have enough pass rushers (among other things).
The Broncos knew they landed one of the draft's best special teams players when they took Robinson, but the excitement with which Paton talked about him after the draft, you can tell this was one of "his guys" going into Day 3 and he was clearly ecstatic to get him.
Broncos GM George Paton gushes over 4th-round pick Que Robinson
“We’ve been seeing flashes of him the last four years at Alabama, really the last two on defense. But you look throughout his career, just the special team plays. I think he had 16, especially in tackles, in the last two years. You see the athletic traits, the athletic ability, the length, the speed, the way he plays, the motor he plays with. He’s played behind some really good outside backers like [Texans DE] Will Anderson, [Vikings OLB] Dallas Turner, guys like that. So, he wasn’t playing a whole lot this year, kind of clicked on defense and then obviously he got the injury, but he has all the traits you look for at that position and yet, in the meantime, he can be a hardcore special teamer so that’s what attracted us.”
- Broncos GM George Paton (via team PR)
Other than punter Jeremy Crawshaw, the Broncos took two guys on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft with barely 400 combined collegiate snaps. The lion's share of those belonged to Robinson, who had become a pre-draft favorite of a number of people for the exact reasons Paton outlined above.
The Broncos already have Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, and a couple of promising 2024 rookies in Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman. But with Drew Sanders transitioning back to the off-ball linebacker position, this team clearly wanted to get a 5th rusher back into the mix and Robinson is going to be active every week thanks to his ability on specail teams.
And if you're dressed for the game, you've at least got a decent shot of getting on the field in other ways. While Robinson's immediate impact will be felt the most on special teams, don't be shocked if he gets a handful of snaps each week to prove himself as a pass rusher, as well.