With the NFL Draft approaching next week, the Denver Broncos brain trust of head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton met with the media on Thursday afternoon for their annual pre-draft press conference. With Denver heading into the season with an established franchise quarterback, they have plenty of options and flexibility with the 20th overall pick.
Denver Broncos have flexibility with 20th overall pick in 2025 NFL Draft
Going into today’s press conference, the Broncos were never going to give away their plans or any specific insight into their draft strategy next Thursday, but Payton and Paton were transparent with how they viewed various positions that could be options for them when they are on the clock.
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The Broncos’ braintrust is entering their third year together, preparing for the draft, and they’re aligned in how they plan to build this team with the foundation they already have.
“It’s going into our third draft,” Paton said. “We’ve had three years of free agency, two seasons and everything in between. We’re aligned in how we want to build this team. We both have a clear vision with what kinds of players and what types of people we want to bring into that building. Man, the collaboration in that building [between] all the departments with the ownership, Sean, myself, the scouts, the coaches, [Vice President of Player Health and Performance] Beau [Lowery] and his team and [Senior Director of Football Technology & Research] Tony [Lazzaro] and the analytics group, it’s been outstanding. You just look back to our first draft, I feel so much more settled, and I feel like this is the most prepared I’ll be for a draft in large part because of the continuity we’ve had.”
The idea of trying to better a Broncos team that won 10 games last season and made their first playoff appearance in nearly ten years is at the forefront of Payton and Paton’s minds, especially with Bo Nix and the quarterback position solidified.
Building a better team around Nix isn’t solely about adding pieces to the offensive side of the ball, but it’s a full-fledged effort to build the best 53-man roster possible by upgrading the defense and special teams as well, which the team believes can help the offense continue to grow.
“The simple answer to your question is, ‘What’s the vision for players we might add on offense or we might add on defense?’ Payton said. When you help your defense, you help your quarterback as well. There are a lot of runners in this draft. Certainly it’s an opportunity, but they are different types of runners. Some of them are physical, down-hill runners and some of them are guys who can take a misdirection, scissors-type run and go the other direction with it. It just depends on what you are looking for. We love Bo, but we are not talking about Bo in these meetings a lot. It’s more about how do they add to what we do offensively?”
One thing Payton mentioned after drafting Nix last year was the importance of helping out a young quarterback by having a good defense and strong run game. Thursday’s press conference only reiterated that statement further, and there are a handful of backs in this year’s draft that could be the secret sauce to what the Broncos are missing team-wise that will help them take the next step forward.
“There are two great allies that I think to help quarterback play,” Payton said. “It’s really good defense and obviously a really good running game. I appreciate that term ‘weapons’, and yet… There will be focus on the running back position. It’s a pretty good draft for running backs. It’s a pretty good draft for interior defensive linemen. When we sign a good football player in free agency, [such as LB] Dre Greenlaw, we feel like we’ve helped our team, and in turn our defense and then in turn the quarterback position. How do we get him off the high dive? You don’t want to be third-and-long, you don’t want to be behind in games. Those are all things that make that position more challenging.”
Every move the Broncos have made so far leading up to the draft have been aimed at making Nix’s job less challenging, which in theory can lead to more overall team success.