Thanks to the development of Bo Nix last year, the Denver Broncos are officially back and are one of the most interesting teams in the league heading into the 2025 NFL Draft. At this point, the Broncos have one major hole on their roster -- at running back -- but nobody seems to have a clue what they're going to do in the first round of the draft.
And that's just how Sean Payton likes it.
But there are people out there who know Sean Payton and his tendencies well, and we might have an intriguing new "favorite" for the Broncos' 1st round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
That player is Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka.
Emeka Egbuka could be the apple of the Denver Broncos' eye in 2025 NFL Draft
The Broncos have been sniffing around just about every possible 1st or 2nd round running back in the pre-draft process. One player who was not brought to the team's facility for a visit was Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. The Broncos were also noticably absent from the Ohio State pro day this year.
Part of the reason for that is that Egbuka and some of his Ohio State teammates are some of the "cleanest" prospects in this year's draft. In some ways, Egbuka is this year's version of what Pat Surtain II was coming out of Alabama back in 2021. He's not quite on that tier as a prospect, but he's been so good it's almost boring, and teams are overthinking him.
ESPN NFL insider Peter Schrager had the Broncos using the 20th overall pick on Egbuka in his final mock draft, and so did his colleague Matt Miller.
Matt Miller of ESPN dropped his final mock draft and had Denver drafting Emeka Egbuka at 20 👀🔥
— SleeperBroncos (@SleeperBroncos) April 23, 2025
“The Broncos were often connected to running back Omarion Hampton in mocks, but I'm hearing they're more interested in wide receivers and tight ends in the first round.” pic.twitter.com/3fvbocvClj
Not only do we have these two guys jumping off the running back train for the Broncos, but we also had a notable shift with Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network projecting the Broncos to actually trade up for a tight end (Colston Loveland) in his final mock.
This is also on the heels of NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport stating that he thinks it's possible the Broncos could trade up for a receiver. He speculated Texas star Matthew Golden as an option for Denver.
Things seem to have shifted dramatically to the Broncos perhaps taking the depth of this running back class more seriously than anticipated. They don't appear to be backed into any sort of 1st-round running back corner, and might instead prefer to load up on weapons early on for Bo Nix.
Egbuka would be an ideal fit, as well. He's got size, speed, explosiveness, great hands, he's a great teammate, and he's an outstanding blocker in the running game. Given how high his proverbial floor is, it wouldn't shock me if the Broncos viewed him as the biggest no-brainer of the 1st round in this year's draft.