For months, on repeat, Sean Payton has publicly thanked the heavens that he and the Broncos are no longer rolling in the muck of trying to find a franchise quarterback.
In another life, where they hadn’t been so gung-ho on Bo Nix in 2024, Payton could be mixing it up at CU with the New York Giants to get eyes on Shedeur Sanders. Or trying to figure out how on Earth to properly evaluate Jaxson Dart. Or debating if Jalen Milroe has the accuracy to merit a first-round selection.
Instead, golden-boy Nix is banging on the glass at Avalanche games. And as much as the world knows Denver needs a running back, a deep draft class and a late first-round selection means the Broncos can largely let the board come to them — with the luxury of best-player-available starting to creep into play.
Every mock drafter, and their mother, is largely projecting the Broncos to take a back at No. 20 in the first round. In The Denver Post’s previous mock a week ago, in fact, we pinpointed fast-rising Ohio State back TreVeyon Henderson as the fit. That could well hold true, as the Broncos brought Henderson in on the final day of permissible top-30 visits.
But Payton said Thursday that this 2025 class was also a “pretty good draft for interior defensive linemen,” and Denver could easily pick up a back beyond the first round and be just as happy with the outcome. So let’s examine a mock scenario — as much as Post columnist Troy Renck would disagree here — where the Broncos don’t swing high on an RB. A reminder: general manager George Paton has never picked a first-round back!
It’s quite possible, too, that the Broncos take advantage of a QB-needy team and trade back. But this is a top-light class where a majority of franchises are similarly looking to move back and not forward, and for the sake of this exercise, let’s assume no trades. Let’s go pick-by-pick through seven rounds, with a few dark-horse fits in the early going.
No. 20: DT Walter Nolen, Ole Miss
Okay, yes. This wouldn’t thrill the Broncos’ fanbase. Especially if North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton and Henderson are still on the board. But regardless if they’ve been snatched up, the Broncos could well opt to wait on a back and bolster a strong defensive line that stands at a bit of a crossroads after 2025, with a number of key contributors needing extensions.
Nolen at No. 20 makes a ton of sense, for a variety of reasons. Denver recently brought him in on a top-30 visit, for one, a source confirmed to The Post. For two, he’s a highly productive run-stuffer (14 TFLs in 2024) with the size to develop as an interior pass-rusher at 6-foot-4 and 296 pounds. For three, he’s a three-down lineman who NFL analyst Lance Zierlein compared to none other than Jonathan Franklin-Myers.
This isn’t a flashy pick, and the Broncos would pass up on a wealth of skill-position talent. But that same skill-position talent will be there in later rounds, in an extremely deep class, and it’d be a smart move for the future to snag an easily-projectable DT.
Dark horse: WR Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State. Sean Payton pretty much downed the idea of the Broncos needing an early-round receiver at Thursday’s pre-draft presser. If that was a smoke screen, though, Egbuka would fit near-perfectly into Denver’s current WR room and figures to land around the back half of the first round. He’s tough as nails over the middle, a heady run-blocker, and has the size, speed and hands to line up outside or in the slot. He’d be great value here.
No. 51: RB Dylan Sampson, Tennessee
This might feel like a reach. It’s not. Hampton will be long gone. Henderson isn’t making it past the top of the second round. The Broncos need a skill-type within the first three rounds, at least, and Sampson is quietly similar to Henderson. He reportedly ran a 4.42-second 40-yard-dash at Tennessee’s pro day, and the production last year was real: 1,491 yards, 22 touchdowns.
Payton has said the Broncos like their current backfield, despite the obvious need to add another name. If big-bodied Audric Estime is going to factor into their 2025 plans, it’d make sense to have a complement who can both bounce outside and provide a change-of-pace inside. Sampson checks both boxes, although he wasn’t used frequently as a pass-catcher at Tennessee.
Dark horse: RB Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State. Two Buckeye dark horses! Let’s assume, for a second, that Payton doesn’t really care about a complementary backfield and just would want to swing on best-back-available here. At the very least, the bruising Judkins is a legit early-down back, and has more receiving upside than he showed in his collegiate career. The Broncos hosted him on a 30 visit, too.
No. 85: TE Gunnar Helm, Texas
Helm could fall to the fourth round, too, but at this spot he’d be the best complete package for what Payton’s likely looking for in a tight end. Pay no mind to the 40 time, or the ineffective combine results. Helm is a grinder, a respected leader at Texas, and a tight end motivated both by greatness and a simple desire to fit in whatever role’s asked of him.
Next to new signee Evan Engram, the Broncos would need a willing blocker in two-tight-end sets. Helm spent the first three years of his career at Texas doing exactly that, mixing it up with SEC defensive-linemen, before breaking out as a receiver in 2024. He’s got both vertical stretch-the-field upside as a pass-catcher and should be able to contribute within his first couple years in the league.
Dark horse: RB Jaydon Blue, Texas. Let’s travel to one of Helm’s teammates. Payton has made it clear he prefers a back with mass, but the 200-pound Blue could be a perfect scat-back complement to Estime, a true burner who ran a 4.38 40 at the combine. Blue caught 42 passes, too, last year at Texas, and could operate with tantalizing versatility in Payton’s offense.
No. 122: S Kitan Crawford, Nevada
Let’s just read the tea leaves here: Denver’s done pretty extensive work on Crawford, a super-athletic safety who could be a steal after a few years of inconsistent snaps at Texas before a breakout 2024 at Nevada. He ran a 4.41 40-yard-dash, has a nasty 41.5-inch vertical, and has legitimate skills in coverage. The Broncos could use some insurance and depth at safety behind Brandon Jones, Riley Moss and an oft-injured Talanoa Hufanga, and Crawford makes a lot of sense here.
Dark horse: WR Isaac TeSlaa, Arkansas. Some team could see TeSlaa’s 6-foot-4 frame and 40-inch vertical and jump on him in the third round, but TeSlaa could also slide after a couple of years of inconsistent production at Arkansas. Sean Payton is of the mindset to not “bypass the crystal for the blender,” in regards to passing on an obvious talent to simply fit a team need, and TeSlaa is as shiny as mid-round receivers come in this draft.
No. 191: LB Nick Martin, Oklahoma State
Similar to safety, Denver could use some insurance at linebacker behind Dre Greenlaw and Alex Singleton, both coming off season-ending injuries in 2024. Martin could go higher, but his stock dipped in an injury-riddled 2024 season. Go back to 2023, though, and Martin was a dynamo, racking up 140 tackles for the Cowboys. He’s a born mike, highly athletic, and could round into a legitimate NFL ‘backer.
No. 197: WR Arian Smith, Georgia
Flier alert! First, to get this out of the way: Smith’s hands were bad in college. He dropped 10 passes last year at Georgia. But oh, man, the athleticism. 4.36 40-yard-dash, 38-inch vertical, 1.51 10-yard-split at the combine; there’s a reason the Broncos have done multiple Zooms with him. The upside is more than worthy of a late-round flier, particularly if Payton is high enough on his core to let Smith matriculate.
No. 208: CB Marcus Harris, Cal
Let’s just check all the positional boxes here. The Broncos could use some depth at corner, and Harris is a true sleeper fit who’ll slide well into Day 3 or out of the draft because the Golden Bears are an unfortunate mess of a program at the moment. Just look at the production, though: four really strong years of collegiate football between Idaho and Cal, and proven results in coverage. He’s a bit undersized at 5-foot-11, but the experience under his belt should help.
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