The Denver Broncos are going to infuse their offense with top talent in the 2025 NFL Draft. Could these two players be their primary targets? To me, it would be a slight shock if one of the team's first two picks in the 2025 NFL Draft was not a player on offense.
The team's most urgent needs are at running back and tight end. Wide receiver and center are also needs to a much lesser extent, but if you watched Denver in 2024, you saw first-hand just how awful the RB and TE rooms were at the end of the day.
We have heard the word 'Joker' thrown around by Sean Payton - he says time and time again that the team needs a Joker player on offense, which could be a mismatch player who causes trouble for opposing defenses.
Simple, right?
Well, maybe not. Finding the right player(s) for the offense to take that next step won't be easy - shoot, half of the league can't figure out the offensive side of the ball, but the Broncos are right on the cusp of putting it all together.
Two recent 2025 NFL Draft prospects were dubbed as dream prospects for the team.
Here is what Bleacher Report had to say about Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr being dubbed as 'dream' prospects for the Broncos:
"Ashton Jeanty could well be gone by the time the Broncos are on the clock at No. 20, but that's not a foregone conclusion.Alex Ballentine
It's a good time to remember that the 2023 draft is the only only one since 2018 where a running back was taken before the 24th pick. Jeanty could be an exception, but the Broncos should be ecstatic if he winds up being on the board.
The only downside to landing Jeanty in the first round would be missing out on Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland. Both would be good fits to give Nix and Sean Payton the kind of dynamic tight end they are missing right now.
Harold Fannin Jr. might be a step down from those prospects, but he still has a nice ceiling as a receiver. His size at 6'3", 231 pounds might keep him from being a traditional in-line tight end, but his work as a chess piece who can move around the formation and create mismatches down the field would make him a good investment for Nix's development.
The Boise State product was one of college football's biggest stars last season. Dame Parson believes the skills he showcased in college are ones that will translate to the league.
"Jeanty is a high-volume and playmaking running back," he wrote. "Between his bowling ball-esque frame and innate contact balance, Jeanty's game translates incredibly well to the NFL. He fits today's run offenses with wide zone and pin-pull gap schemes. Jeanty is a bell-cow running back who can shoulder the load for an NFL rushing attack."
Giving Bo Nix that kind of talent to balance the offense would be huge."
Ashton Jeanty and Harold Fannin Jr were the two prospects that were labeled as dream targets for the Denver Broncos. And you know what? I agree, 100%. Jeanty is pretty self-explanatory. He's the best RB in the class and someone who can be the bell-cow in the backfield that Denver has been missing for years now.
The size concerns are silly, as he is similar in size to players like Jahmyr Gibbs and Aaron Jones, for example. Ashton Jeanty is going to be a 1,000-yard rusher in his first year in the NFL. The Broncos offense would ascend to levels we have not seen in a decade if they were able to get someone of his caliber in the first round.
Harold Fannin is an interesting player. I have personally seen people way in on him and people way out on him. Fannin is a bit undersized for being a tight end and is truly more of a receiver than anything else.
However, he can be put all over the formation and is insanely explosive with the ball in his hands. He's going to be almost exclusively a receiver, but we are seeing more of that in the NFL - tight ends who are on the field to catch passes, and tight ends who are on the field to block.
The Broncos could also do a lot worse than Ashton Jeanty and Harold Fannin Jr with their top two picks. Now yes, perhaps switching the positions and perhaps coming away with Colston Loveland and TreVeyon Henderson would be a better duo, but it is hard to complain about Jeanty and Fannin.