Broncos Urged to Unlock WR Pat Bryant With Greater Utilization

The Denver Broncos must find a way to get Pat Bryant more opportunities as a receiver.

Oct 26, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Pat Bryant (13) celebrates scoring a touchdown with quarterback Bo Nix (10) in the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at Empower Field at Mile High. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Denver Broncos took a lot of flak for selecting wide receiver Pat Bryant in the third round of the 2025 NFL draft. Despite that ridicule, the pick has worked out this season, for the most part, and it has actually gotten to a point where the Broncos need to find a way to get Bryant even more involved in the offense. 

Entering the Week 11 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Bryant had 13 catches on 19 targets, with one drop. What makes it so clear he needs to be a bigger part of the offense is that all 13 of his catches have gone for a first down or touchdown, and that continued against the Chiefs, as the Broncos upset their AFC West rival 22-19. 

In the first half, Bryant had three catches on four targets, and all were for a first down. In the second half, he added two more catches on six targets, including his first career reception that wasn’t for a first down or touchdown. 

Expanding Bryant's Role

Nov 2, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Pat Bryant (13) celebrates after a first down during the second half against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. | Sean Thomas-Imagn Images

Now, Bryant has a role on offense: bringing blocking to the running game. He had 294 total snaps entering the Chiefs game, 110 as a run blocker, and many snaps as a blocker on screens. That ability earned him more playing time, but not a bigger role in the passing game. 

With Bryant's reliability as a blocker and receiver, Sean Payton and Bo Nix need to find a way to keep him more involved in the passing game. Bryant's role has grown over the past few weeks, and it should continue to increase. 

Bryant finished with a team-high five receptions for 82 yards vs. the Chiefs. His long of 48 yards helped set up a score.

It can be challenging to do as the Broncos' receivers all fill different niches, except Courtland Sutton, and you don’t want to diminish those other roles. Marvin Mims Jr. and Troy Franklin bring the explosive play potential with their speed, and you don’t want that to take a back seat. 

However, Franklin has had issues with drops. He had six entering the game against the Chiefs and added two more in the first half.

Franklin also showed his value on third down, catching a pass with a great get-off that helped lead to a touchdown on the drive and again on the Broncos' game-winning field goal drive.

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Demonstrated Receiving Value

Over the past few weeks, Bryant has consistently demonstrated his reliability as a receiver, giving the offense a new set of downs. Now, some of that is the sample size. It won’t always stay near 100% in first-down or touchdown rate, but it points to his strengths and reliability when plays are needed. 

A lot of those catches are by route design, but Bryant has also shown a solid ability to create after the catch, though again on a limited sample size. It's hard to use him as the target on a screen because of his blocking ability, but that could be a way to catch a defense sleeping. 

Bryant is big and has surprising speed and quickness, though his 40-yard dash at the Combine didn't show it, and he can take a screen and make something happen. It shouldn’t be once every game, or once every other game, but once every few games? Those calls could be enough to generate a big play for the Broncos. 

Denver actually dialed this up in the second half, setting the offense ahead of the sticks as the Chiefs clearly weren't expecting Bryant to be the target. This is precisely what Denver should look at doing once every few games. 

The Takeaway

Bryant has been developing into a good weapon for the Broncos' offense, and there is still plenty of room for more growth. For a pick that got as much blowback as it did, he is proving Denver was right to take him so far in his very young career.