The Denver Broncos won't be on the clock until the 62nd overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, so after a long offseason of waiting for the fan base, even more patience will be required during the draft itself.
The Broncos rarely align with the consensus when it comes to NFL Draft prospects, at least that's how it feels when it comes to the way they draft. They've become experts in zigging when everyone thinks they are going to zag. With that said, the top potential targets for the Broncos with the 62nd overall pick may very well end up out of their range entirely.
All of the Broncos' top five targets on the brand-new FanSided Top 50 Big Board are ranked inside the top 50, meaning the Broncos will have to hope one of them ends up sliding all the way down to 62.
Denver Broncos may have to pivot NFL Draft strategy if top-5 targets align with FanSided draft board
Here's a quick look at the Broncos' top-5 projected targets on the FanSided Top 50 board, along with their overall ranking:
- Emmanuel Pregnon, OG, Oregon (41st)
- Lee Hunter, DT, Texas Tech (43rd)
- Chase Bisontis, OG, Texas A&M (45th)
- Christen Miller, DL, Georgia (46th)
- Zion Young, EDGE, Missouri (47th)
Of course, this is a Top-50 Big Board, so no matter what, even the last player on that list was going to come in 12 spots higher than where the Broncos select. But this is also part of the reason why the Broncos have brought in a number of these players for pre-draft visits.
Namely, they have brought in Pregnon, Young, and Miller for visits, and this big board may provide us with an obvious reason why. If these guys are all ranked 15-20 spots higher on the Broncos' board than their pick slot of 62 overall, you'll take that kind of value at positions in the trenches in the NFL Draft.
That's almost too good of a scenario to pass on. But let's flip the script as well, because this list also presents an interesting situation of the Broncos are married to the idea of getting one of these five guys. It could cause them to trade up in the 2nd round, even with limited capital, or all of these guys being gone by 62 could cause them to trade down and maybe stack some more picks in the next couple of draft classes.
The Broncos definitely could surprise a lot of people by prioritizing the trenches with their top pick, especially if it ends up being an edge rusher like Zion Young. There is no doubt that these prospects would all give Denver outstanding value in the 2nd round, and that's something they are clearly banking on.
The Broncos have done really well in this pick range over the last handful of years, selecting Nik Bonitto 64th overall in 2022, Marvin Mims Jr. 63rd overall in 2023, and RJ Harvey 60th overall in 2025.
Any one of these five prospects being available would keep that streak going for the Broncos, and if they're gone, it could cause a pivot of strategy entirely.
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