The decision by the Denver Broncos to favor a youth movement at wide receiver in the 2025 offseason hasn't been unanimously well-received by the fan base. Young receivers bring an element of excitement because of their upside and potential, but veteran receivers who have produced at a high level can raise the floor of a room.
Fans watched as the Broncos passed on the chance to trade for Deebo Samuel, they passed on Cooper Kupp (who was interested in coming to the Broncos), and they passed on Stefon Diggs. In fact, the Broncos passed on the entire lot of free agent receivers in 2025, except special teams ace Trent Sherfield.
They're sticking with the youth movement in 2025, and their rival Los Angeles Chargers just proved exactly why.
Mike Williams starting off camp on the PUP proves Broncos right to stick with WR youth movement
Chargers placed WR Mike Williams on the PUP list.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 14, 2025
The unfortunate reality for a player like Mike Williams is that injuries have plagued almost his entire NFL career. And just because the Broncos went with a youth movement at receiver does not make them immune to players getting hurt, but when you're constructing a roster, it's a way better look to load up on young guys than it is to plan on older players and those guys end up with the least-surprising issues imaginable.
The Chargers should have seen this coming with Williams, but they brought him in and planned on him being part of the rotation at receiver anyway.
And because Chargers rookies have already had to report to camp, they're also dealing with the absence of second-round pick Tre Harris as well.
The absence of Williams at the start of training camp is exactly the type of validation the Broncos needed that going with young guys at receiver was the right move for this year. They are fully committed to guys they've drafted in-house and there are a number of players in the mix for the 2025 season.
Despite being connected to a wide variety of players at the position, GM George Paton and head coach Sean Payton have resisted the temptation to bring in older players at receiver and time will tell if that decision-making pays off.
We'll be closely monitoring the likes of Cooper Kupp, Deebo Samuel, Stefon Diggs, and even players like Keenan Allen and Amari Cooper, who are still available in the lead-up to training camp. The Broncos took the young and hungry approach in 2024 by necessity with $90 million in dead cap, but they're keeping it going in 2025 despite added flexibility.
The decision to bring in Evan Engram at tight end could be met with the same type of scrutiny if he suffers an injury at any point, but the Chargers losing Williams was unfortunately extremely predictable.