General Manager has bought himself a lot of good will with an inaugural draft class that clearly was among the best in the entire NFL.
The Broncos found a potential superstar cornerback, a running back who has a chance to be one of the best in the league, a hyper-athletic guard and linebacker that captured starting jobs by season’s end, and a late-round safety and edge-rusher who has the potential to start in 2022.
Not only did the Broncos have a tremendous number of hits, but they also had practically zero misses. Marquiss Spencer and Jamar Johnson failed to produce as rookies, but it would also be foolish to count them out now.
Paton’s remarkable rookie class has earned him praise from all around the league and media circuit, most recently from NFL.com, who ranked Paton’s 2021 draft class as the second-best in the entire league, trailing only the Chiefs.
“Well, the Broncos certainly knocked their first two picks out of the park,” NFL.com’s Nick Shook wrote. “Surtain quickly validated Denver’s selection with his first career interception in Week 2. He finished with four picks, made the PFWA All-Rookie Team and was PFF’s 41st-graded corner in 2021, just behind Colts Pro Bowler Kenny Moore. Williams is Denver’s long-term answer at running back, having averaged 4.4 yards per carry while scoring seven scrimmage touchdowns and breaking 1,200 scrimmage yards.”
It should be noted that although Surtain didn’t perform incredibly well in terms of PFF’s grades, he had one of the most impressive seasons of any cornerback in the league according to other advanced analytics, such as expected points added, where Surtain ranked fourth among all defensive backs.
“Meinerz has a promising future ahead of him after appearing in 15 games (nine starts) and earning a top-40 PFF grade among guards,” Shook continued. “Browning was an effective player, transitioning from a special-teams contributor to a starter from Week 8 onward. Sterns figures to replace Kareem Jackson (33 years old and headed for free agency) going forward, and he showed potential with a couple of interceptions in 2021. Johnson appeared in three games solely as a special-teams player. Williams appeared in two games, catching one pass for 34 yards. Vincent was shipped to Philadelphia ahead of the trade deadline. Cooper was a nice Day 3 discovery, tallying 38 tackles (four for loss) and 2.5 sacks as a rotational player while also filling a special teams role. Spencer was released as part of final cuts before joining the practice squad and signing a reserve/future contract in January.”
A draft class of that quality has the potential to turn the outlook of a franchise around. This is demonstrated by last season’s list, which ranked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cincinnati Bengals second and third respectively, or by 2019’s list, which ranked the Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills second and third respectively.