There is no position Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has gone after more in the NFL draft since he was hired in January 2023 than wide receiver. In his first 3 years he’s taken more wide receivers (4) than any other position, and picked at least one each year.
Eventually, Payton is going to come across a wide receiver he likes so much he’ll take him in the first round. That might be in 2026, where one model from the NFL Mock Draft Database projects the Broncos take USC star Ja’Kobi Lane at No. 24 overall.
There are wildly different projections on Lane’s NFL prospects after the 6-foot-4, 195-pound Arizona native had one of the wildest stat lines you’ll see in 2024 with 43 receptions for 525 yards … and 12 touchdowns.
Lane added to the hype when he capped his sophomore year by earning Las Vegas Bowl MVP honors with 7 receptions for 127 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 35-31 win over Texas A&M.
ESPN’s Jordan Reid has Lane ranked as the No. 1 wide receiver prospect in the 2026 draft class, while fellow draft expert Matt Miller didn’t even have him in his top 5 prospects.
“I have the 6-4, 195-pound redshirt sophomore ranked higher than everyone and will continue to reside on that island,” Reid wrote. “But he is a polarizing prospect who has many scouts needing to see more. Despite 12 touchdowns last season, Lane had only 528 receiving yards and was held below 50 yards in eight of USC’s 13 games. There isn’t a true WR1 in this class yet, so, with a bit more consistency, Lane has the opportunity to rise and be the first receiver off the board.”
Lane Does One Thing Really Well: Score Touchdowns
Lane’s proclivity for getting into the end zone goes back to his days at Red Mountain High in Mesa, Arizona, where he had 25 receiving touchdowns over his last 2 seasons and was named the Wide Receiver MVP at the Elite 11 in 2022.
Sports Illustrated’s Kyron Samuels believes Lane could end up vaulting to the No. 1 receiver picked in the 2026 NFL draft with another big year.
“An underrated characteristic of Lane’s game is his toughness,” Samuels wrote. “While Lane is by no means undersized at 6-4, 195 pounds, he is slender in stature. You’d never know it based off of how tenacious he is with the ball in the air as he’s willing to sacrifice his body despite impending collision in oftentimes defenseless positions. That type of fearlessness and sacrifice galvanizes a team of peers fighting for the same goal.”
Broncos Can’t See Future at Wide Receiver
The Broncos have a muddied future at wide receiver, where Courtland Sutton is the clear cut WR1 after the second 1,000 yard receiving season of his career in 2024 … but will also turn 30 years old in October and has put a lot of miles on his body on some terrible teams over the last 8 seasons.
The Broncos added another wide receiver in the 2025 draft with Pat Bryant in the third round and are still holding out hope that one of their 2 wide receiver picks from 2024, DeVaughn Vele and Troy Franklin, could blossom into stars playing with second year quarterback Bo Nix.
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