The Denver Broncos, despite not having Bo Nix, nearly beat the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, but even if the Broncos had won that game, the season would have felt incomplete, as not having Nix would have likely made a Super Bowl win impossible.
To begin the 2026 offseason, the Broncos raced to re-sign many of their own players in an effort to 'run it back,' but many fans had fairly begun to wonder if the team was actually serious about upgrading this roster and shoring up the weak points.
Enter, Jaylen Waddle. In a move that was honestly pretty unexpected, Waddle came over in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, suddenly giving Denver precisely what they were missing on offense. After years of inconsistencies at wide receiver, it finally feels like this current room is going to be the one, and some recent rankings would agree...
Denver Broncos WR group well inside the top 10 in latest rankings
In Bleacher Report, Gary Davenport ranked the Broncos wide receiver group sixth in the NFL ahead of the 2026 season:
"Top Three Receivers: Courtland Sutton, Jaylen Waddle, Troy Franklin
The Denver Broncos made it as far as the AFC Championship Game last year, but the team decided that an upgrade was needed at the wide receiver position. The team spent big to get one, dealing a first-round pick to Miami for Jaylen Waddle.
Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga told reporters that the 27-year-old has been as advertised on the field at OTAs:
'Everything he is expected to be. His ability to make every route look the same is pretty important. As a defender when you can make a 10-yard stop look like a go [route], 10-yard dig look like a go, a 10-yard out route, everything looks the same, it puts pressure on your back pedal.'
Waddle hasn't topped 1,000 receiving yards since 2023, but in 2022 he led the league at 18.1 yards per reception. He joins another field stretcher in ninth-year veteran Courtland Sutton, who posted the third 1,000-yard season of his career last year and who has 25 touchdowns the last three seasons.
With that duo wreaking havoc down the field, there should be room galore underneath for third-year pro Troy Franklin, who caught 65 passes for 709 yards and six scores a year ago."
It feels like the arrival of Waddle has come just in the nick of time, as Courtland Sutton is already entering his age-31 season and may begin to decline. However, he has hit the 1,000-yard mark in each of the last two seasons as the Broncos de-facto WR1. With Waddle now at the top, Sutton's job could get a lot easier.
Troy Franklin, despite being targeted way too much last year, did have a much improved season. He was more efficient across the board, and it's important to remember that the 2025 campaign was only his age-22 season in the league.
Now entering his age-23 season, Franklin finds himself primed to be in an ideal WR3 role, potentially seeing consistent matchups against third-string cornerbacks. The blurb also does not even mention guys like Pat Bryant and Marvin Mims Jr., both of whom have desirable skill sets that any team would covet.
Bryant does profile as a future "X" receiver, and if he can stay on the field, his sure-handedness and physicality could be put on display. Mims' gadget-y ability has also been a skill set that we've seen NFL offenses hone in on in recent years.
From top to bottom, the Broncos have one of the best and deepest wide receiver rooms in the NFL, and all it really took to get there was a big-time trade for Waddle.
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