George Paton's vision finally coming to fruition with Denver Broncos

The 2024 Denver Broncos are the biggest reason for optimism the franchise has put out in a decade. The Broncos have flirted with the playoffs in recent years, most recently last year, but it has been in large part due to overperforming players, veterans in the later stages of their careers, or simple luck.

However, the 2024 Broncos are being led by a young brigade of building blocks for head coach Sean Payton to build upon, and he has one man to thank for this: general manager George Paton.

Broncos GM George Paton is seeing his vision come to life in 2024

When he arrived in Denver, Paton was heralded as one of the best college scouting eyes in football. Since he arrived, the Broncos have had a few high-profile draft picks, but they haven't been able to build a winner. However, this trend has a chance to end this year, and it would largely be thanks to Paton's work. The Broncos have been led by five key players on defense: Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Pat Surtain, Riley Moss, and Zach Allen. Four of those players were drafted by Paton during his time in Denver, and the only exception -- Allen -- was signed by Paton after the hiring of Vance Joseph.

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On the offensive side, the Broncos are led by rookie gunslinger Bo Nix, guard Quinn Meinerz, and have blooming weapons such as Devaughn Vele, Troy Franklin, and Marvin Mims Jr. The Broncos offense has Paton's fingerprints all over it, with Courtland Sutton and Garett Bolles being the only major pieces of the Broncos offensive line that Paton did not bring in.

Paton's drafts since 2021 have yielded several starters for the Broncos, but players such as Javonte Williams have had varying levels of issues making it stick in Denver. However, the perfect match might just be Sean Payton's coaching and George Paton's players.

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If the Broncos are to make the playoffs this year, there are serious flowers in order for Paton's whose faith in players such as Bonitto, Cooper, Meinerz, and others, has put the Broncos in a position to be one of the better teams in the AFC going forward. While Pat Surtain and Riley Moss have become one of the top, if not the true best of the NFL's cornerback duos, Cooper and Bonitto are among the best sacking duo in the league, all while the offensive weapons in Denver are continuing to grow and progress.

Maybe it took Sean Payton, and maybe it took some more time, but George Paton's vision is finally coming into focus in Denver, and it looks promising for the Broncos.