George Paton's tenure with the Denver Broncos as the General Manager did not get off to a great start. However, that wasn't because of his drafting, as his trade for Russell Wilson and hiring of Nathaniel Hackett back in 2022 had the Broncos loaded with optimism, but, unfortunately, it became anything but when actual football had to be played.
Luckily, while the Broncos are far from a perfect team, and Paton's squad did not notch a winning record until his fourth year on the job, many of his draft picks began to pan out in a variety of ways, and, suddenly, many of the best players on the roster were draft picks by Paton, proving that the veteran GM simply knows what he is doing when the NFL Draft rolls around.
Let's take a deeper look at his draft history and look at the best draft picks of the Paton era.
Ranking the Denver Broncos best drafted players under George Paton
Honorable Mention: Riley Moss, CB (83rd pick, 2023 NFL Draft), and Jonathon Cooper, OLB 239th pick, 2021 NFL Draft)
We'll give an Honorable Mention to both Riley Moss and Jonathon Cooper, who have become rock-solid starters for the team. Both players aren't necessarily the top at their respective positions, but each is kind of a 'Robin' to the Batman, if that makes sense. Paton used a third and seventh-round pick to find Moss and Cooper.
5. Luke Wattenberg, C (171st overall pick, 2022 NFL Draft)
Luke Wattenberg has emerged as one of the smarter starting centers in the NFL. He became the starting center back in the 2024 NFL Season. Wattenberg is at the center of what has been the best offensive line in the NFL the past two seasons. He has missed some time with injury in each year, which isn't ideal, but PFF graded him as the 9th-best center in the NFL last year, and PFF also notes that he allowed zero sacks.
4. Quinn Meinerz, OG (98th overall pick, 2021 NFL Draft)
Despite just barely being a top-100 pick, Quinn Meinerz has turned into the best guard in football. He's been a first-team All-Pro in each of the last two seasons and was the 98th overall pick back in 2021, Paton's first draft with the Broncos, and one that is still the best as of now.
Meinerz, like Wattenberg, helps create the best offensive line in the NFL, and there simply aren't many players across the NFL at any position who are a first-team All-Pro two years in a row.
3. Nik Bonitto, OLB (64th overall pick, 2022 NFL Draft)
Nik Bonitto was nearly a third-round pick back in the 2022 NFL Draft. Since the start of the 2024 season, Bonitto has emerged as a top-7 EDGE rusher in the NFL, earning a long-term deal with the Broncos and becoming one of those guys that an offense needs to look out for on each play.
Bonitto isn't the biggest at the position and is sometimes a bit weak against the run, but he also makes up for that by being one of the fastest and best overall rushers in the NFL. He's had at least 20 quarterback hits in each of the last three seasons.
2. Patrick Surtain II, CB, (9th overall pick, 2021 NFL Draft)
Patrick Surtain II won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2024 and has been the best cornerback in the NFL for multiple years now. Somehow, he wasn't even the first cornerback taken in the 2021 NFL Draft, which doesn't feel reel. Through five seasons in the NFL, Surtain has been a Pro Bowler four times and an All-Pro two times.
He's anchored one of the league's stingiest secondaries, which has been evident for two years now.
1. Bo Nix, QB (12th overall pick, 2024 NFL Draft)
With the way things have gone, it's pretty clear that Bo Nix has been the best draft pick of the Paton era thus far. There is no position more important in professional sports than the quarterback, and while many teams have a functional quarterback, not many can say that the have an ascending quarterback on his rookie deal.
Nix has the goods, and if not for a tragic broken ankle, the Broncos could have won the Super Bowl in 2025. The third-year passer isn't perfect and does need to elevate his passing production in 2026, but there are a plethora of other teams in an inferior spot with their starting quarterback.
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