Broncos' Draft Class Ranked Higher Than Three AFC Playoff Teams by SI

Reactions to the Denver Broncos' moderately controversial draft haul continue to roll in. What controversy exists centers around the Broncos not taking a running back or offensive weapon in Round 1, instead selecting college football's top defensive back.

Adding to the subverted expectations in the first round, the Broncos have also been criticized for 'reaching' on a running back and a wide receiver in Rounds 2 and 3, respectively. And if any dissatisfaction persists in the fan base, it's because none of the names that became familiar to Broncos Country leading up to the draft were ultimately selected by the team, even when many of them were on the board.

However, Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame seems to be picking up what Sean Payton is putting down, ranking the Broncos' draft class as the eighth-best in the AFC, and giving the haul a B grade overall.

Round 1, Pick 20: Jahdae Barron | CB | Texas
Round 2, Pick 60: RJ Harvey | RB | UCF
Round 3, Pick 74: Pat Bryant | WR | Illinois
Round 3, Pick 101: Sai’vion Jones | DL | LSU
Round 4, Pick 134: Que Robinson | OLB | Alabama
Round 6, Pick 216: Jeremy Crawshaw | P | Florida
Round 7, Pick 241: Caleb Lohner | TE | Utah

"The Broncos did a nice job adding talent on both sides of the ball. Denver found tremendous value in Barron, who will join Patrick Surtain II and Riley Moss," Verderame wrote. "In the second round, Harvey should turn into a starting back. After that, Jones and Robinson are a pair of intriguing edge rushers joining the league’s top sack team."

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It's worth mentioning that Verderame ranked Denver's draft class higher than three AFC playoff teams, including the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers, and Buffalo Bills.

It will be interesting to see the Broncos' vision for Barron realized. Is he the new slot? Is Barron going to compete for the No. 2 boundary cornerback with Moss? Or could he be a safety-type weapon deployed in sub-packages?

Time will tell. But Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has got to be on Cloud 9.

Harvey immediately projects as the Broncos' starter. The former UCF star will bring an explosive component to a Broncos running game that simply wasn't there last year.

Jones will provide depth up front in Year 1, with the potential to carve out a bigger role, depending on how quickly he develops. He projects as a future starter, which could begin in 2026 with Zach Allen, John Franklin-Myers, and Malcolm Roach all entering a contract year.

Robinson is interesting, but the Broncos are already four-deep at rush linebacker. His immediate impact will be felt on special teams, knowing the venerated former Alabama head coach Nick Saban called Robinson the best third-phase player he ever coached.

Crawshaw and Lohner go unmentioned by Verderame, for understandable reasons. One's a sixth-round punter and the other is a seventh-round project.

However, Crawshaw was easily the best punter in this class and could become a sharp tool for new special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, especially in the thin air of Mile High. Lohner isn't just any ol' seventh-round flyer; he's a towering 6-foot-7 former basketball star with a shockingly high relative athletic score.

Remember, few in Denver expected 2024 seventh-round wideout Devaughn Vele to even make the roster, let alone start as a rookie. And yet, he did.

The draft pedigree will only get these players so far in Denver. Each guy has an opportunity to earn a bigger role, as Payton's coaching staff goes by what they see on the field, and Vele is a great example of that.

At the end of the day, the Broncos stuck to their draft board, even if it didn't jive with the consensus in the media. That disappointed some media folks and fans, but if Payton has proven anything through his first two years as head coach, it's that his controversial decisions might kick up some dirt in the short term, but they tend to bear fruit in the long term.

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