Two days until the NFL season starts and power rankings have the Denver Broncos in the top-half of the NFL.
Some even have Sean Payton’s team in the top-10.
We looked at six different lists to determine what Denver’s consensus ranking is just before the season kicks off.
Consensus Power Rankings: Denver Broncos come in at 11th
The Denver Broncos are a playoff-bound team.
At least, with their first game about to kickoff in four days, that’s where most analysts see them.
Last week, ESPN’s Mike Clay projected the orange and blue into the AFC’s 5th seed when the season is all said and done. The Athletic projects the Broncos to that same 5th spot in the AFC.
So, it makes sense if the Broncos are right around 10th in power rankings. Some have them slightly higher, and others have them a bit lower.
Pro Football Talk
PFT has Denver ranked at 9th, their highest.
Broncos 9th. Wow. Higher than I expected.
— Tariff Tim and the “Groceries” (@richkurt.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 3:33 PM
NFL.com
NFL.com also ranks the Broncos at 9th overall.
There’s no question the Broncos are becoming a dangerous team, acquiring even more defensive talent for a unit that was strong a year ago and adding pieces to an incomplete offensive picture. If Bo Nix can build on what he did last season, Denver can challenge Kansas City and others for the division title.
The Chiefs have fallen some and the Broncos keep rising. Is this the year Denver wins the AFC West again?
CBS Sports
Denver lands just in the Top-10 for another list at CBS Sports.
They shocked many by going to the playoffs last year, and they are a better team now. The defense could be the best in the league and Bo Nix should show growth in his second season.
Keep in mind that the Broncos are the second-ranked team from the AFC West in all these three lists, with the Chargers down in 14th and 15th, respectively.
B/R
Bleacher Report lists Denver at 11th overall. They have the Chargers at 10th, interestingly, even mentioning the loss of left tackle Rashawn Slater.
Offensively, the Denver Broncos have a strong collective group with continuity, but at the skill positions, Courtland Sutton and J.K. Dobbins don’t excite. Head coach Sean Payton found his “Joker” in 31-year-old tight end Evan Engram.
FOX Sports
FOX puts the Broncos down at 14th overall. They’d also be on the outside looking in of the playoffs if the season ended that way.
Now, preseason results can be deceiving, and it’s hard to forget how the defense faded down the stretch last year. But the Broncos tried to improve it in the offseason and the early returns suggest they did.
Pro Football Focus
PFF also has Payton’s team down in 14th place, but in the last playoff spot in the AFC.
Finding the balance between optimism and pragmatism is a fine line, but the Broncos have improved the ecosystem around second-year quarterback Bo Nix. Even in a tough AFC West, they’re heading into the 2025 season with Super Bowl aspirations.
So, we know where the Broncos are starting. Almost everyone believes they’ll be playoff-bound. But where will they end?
The 2025 season kicks off at 2:05 p.m. MT on Sunday, Sept. 7 with the Tennessee Titans in town.
