Time to Focus on the Past
By Adam Uribes
· General
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· 2 min read
"How last year’s class levels up from last season will be a bigger indicator of success for the Broncos than any contributions the 2026 classes can make as rookies."
The 2025 Denver Broncos draft class will have a bigger impact on this year's team than the 2026 class.
That’s not a “hot take” per se. It is a reminder that eating at home is more practical than going out to eat. How last year’s class levels up from last season will be a bigger indicator of success for the Broncos than any contributions the 2026 classes can make as rookies.
This isn’t a slight to 3rd round pick, Tyler Onyedim, but if he’s getting more playing time than 2025 Sai’vion Jones, it’s a concerning portent of where the Denver defense is as a whole. You can throw 1st round pick, Jahdae Barron, in that crowd too. Think of last season as Barron’s internship in the Denver system, and earned only playing time in the sub-packages or on special teams. With versatile backup, P.J. Locke getting a shot at a starting job down in Dallas gives Barron the first opportunity to increase his time on the field coming up this fall. If 5th round pick, Miles Scott, is playing ahead of Barron, it should raise some eyebrows about Barron in Broncoland.
That isn’t just limited to the defense, either. Jonah Coleman, albeit briefly, looks every bit the three-down back the team has been missing since….it’s been a minute is the point. But, if Coleman is eating into the playing time of 2nd-year, 2nd round pick, R.J. Harvey, it means that Harvey regressed from his rookie form. Both tight ends drafted this year, Justin Joly and Dallan Bentley, do look the part of competent players catching the ball and blocking, but Sean Payton went out of his way to talk about 2025 7th round selection, Caleb Lohner, at the conclusion of mini-camp. While somewhat surprising that marginal starter Adam Troutman was re-resigned, the door is wide open for a more complete tight end to take the blocking part of the job as time-share partner, Evan Engram, will get another shot at being Bo Nix’s security blanket. If it's Joly or Bentley, then Lohner is still way behind in his development. At least, that’s the more likely scenario.
It’s too easy to get caught up in the glossy new toy that is the 2026 draft class. But the 2025 class will be the barometer of how good the Denver Broncos project to be for this upcoming season.
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