The Broncos head coach had some high praise for the Broncos third round selection.
The Broncos’ third-round selection of Illinois wide receiver Pat Bryant was a head-scratcher for most fans. Most media rankings had Bryant graded as a day 3 selection, he ran a 4.61 40-time, and simply wasn’t one of the more flashier receivers available when the Broncos were picking in the third round. However, that did not stop Sean Payton and the Broncos from selecting Bryant with their third-round pick.
The Broncos’ head coach told reporters after the conclusion of day two of the 2025 NFL Draft that Bryant reminded him of former Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas.
Sean Payton said WR Pat Bryant player comp is Michael Thomas. “Especially at the line of scrimmage.”
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) April 26, 2025
Payton would go on to say that “there were so many things about his game that reminded me of Michael Thomas”. He says Bryant is explosive off the line, competitive, very tough, and has good size and outstanding hands. He also highlighted how Bryant would excel in the biggest moments in the game and had multiple walk-off scores and big plays in key moments. He concluded by saying he just has “a lot of traits that Mike had, especially at the line of scrimmage”.
“There were so many things about his game that reminded me of Mike Thomas. With respect to Mike, who became… I mean, holy cow. You don’t ever want to put pressure on a rookie like that, We’re just talking about traits. But really explosive off the line of scrimmage, he’s very competitive, very tough. We mentioned this yesterday, periodically, you have more insight into a certain player. Jim Leonhard worked at Illinois the year before we hired him. So Jim had insight into the makeup, toughness. I really think the body of work and all the additional film study, but his size and his hands are outstanding. His competes… I don’t know how many critical… He was just a player who excelled in crunch time. I think he had a walk-off or a couple of these big plays. Obviously , he’s physical, but the player comp for me—forget the jersey number—just a lot of traits that Mike had, especially at the line of scrimmage.”
This is high praise for the rookie receiver, as Payton mentions in the quote, because Thomas was among the best wide receivers in the league during his time with the Saints. During his best season in 2019, Thomas had 149 receptions for 1,725 yards and 9 touchdowns. Before that season, he had back-to-back seasons of 100+ catches for 1,200+ yards and 5+ touchdowns.
So, when Sean Payton is going on about how Pat Bryant reminds him of Michael Thomas, that should be pretty exciting for Broncos fans.
With that said, I do not think he will come close to that sort of production in his rookie season with the Broncos, but he could see a key role on offense. Listen, if you’re a good run-blocking wide receiver, Sean Payton is going to find snaps for you. Whether that be opening up run lanes for one of the Broncos running backs or being a lead blocker in the screen game. Either way, you’ll be getting snaps and occasionally see some targets in the passing game from quarterback Bo Nix.
While some fans might be groaning about this pick right now, we could be cheering for Bryant a lot this upcoming season. If he even becomes half of what Michael Thomas was with the Saints, the Broncos got themselves a pretty good receiver who just fits the makeup and culture of this team.