Good Morning Broncos Country!
The Denver Broncos are 6-5, exceeding expectations, and a big reason for that is the success of their rookie draft class. For the most part, all of the Broncos rookies have contributed at some point this season and are giving the Broncos hope in the present but also in the future.
We have to start with rookie quarterback Bo Nix. He has turned it on lately and is now arguably the frontrunner for offensive rookie of the year. He is coming off a 4 touchdown game vs. the Falcons and has been bringing in all the awards this week. Nix is looking the part of a franchise quarterback and is making head coach Sean Payton look like a genius.
Back in February, Payton met with the media that he thinks that “we’ll be really good” at evaluating the quarterback class and that he is glad that a lot of people are not good at it. The Broncos would go on to select Bo Nix with the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and he was sixth and last quarterback to be drafted in the first round.
Well, through 11 weeks of the season, Payton and the Broncos appear be really good at evaluating quarterbacks and are benefitting from the others not being as good at it.
Sean Payton, last Feb. 27 on evaluating draft QBs: “Sometimes it’s not as difficult as we make it out to be, and then sometimes, listen, it’s very difficult. And so, I think we’ll be really good at this. And I think to some degree, we’re glad that a lot of people aren’t.” pic.twitter.com/FO25H50nvd
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) November 21, 2024
The rookie class does not stop with Nix. Overall, Payton believes the class is special and was asked about this earlier this week. He told reporters that they had each player they drafted (not named Bo Nix) graded two rounds higher than they were actually drafted.
“I thought it had a chance to be. We’ll look back on it. With each player—let’s get past [QB] Bo [Nix]—then the next pick we had a higher grade on [where we picked him] and then with the next pick. With each player when we drafted them, we probably had a grade two rounds earlier. That’s doesn’t happen often. I think most importantly was the vison for each guy. ‘How do we see this guy fitting in Year 1?’ We did a lot of work on it. Three years from now—we’ll know for sure, like where this draft panned out. We did know it would be measured certainly with the first selection, and I understand that. We felt real good about those other selections as well.”
So far, the Broncos rookies are living up to the grades the Broncos had on them. Most of them are contributing weekly and likely will have bigger roles moving forward.
Jonah Elliss, the Broncos’ third-round pick has been a solid rotational edge rusher for them and has 3 sacks on the year so far. If we take Payton’s comments as fact, the Broncos had a first-round grade on him and were able to get him in the third round. With Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto entrenched as the starters, Elliss has time to develop and serve as a reliable rotational edge rusher off the bench.
Troy Franklin was the Broncos fourth-round selection, a player they traded up for, and he has been showing promise. The speedy wide receiver had a few drops on some deep balls and another where Nix overthrew him, but if he can clean that up, he has a bright future ahead of him. Franklin has 2 touchdowns on the year including one last Sunday so hopefully, he can finish the year hot and carry it over into 2025.
Corner Kris Abrams-Draine was the Broncos fifth-round selection and so far, he has been a weekly inactive. He did have a strong summer, but the depth at corner has kept him from seeing the field this year.
Running back Audric Estime appeared to be taking over the Broncos backfield, but fell behind veteran Javonte Williams last week. Regardless, the rookie has flashed some potential and figures to be a factor in the Broncos backfield moving forward. With Javonte Williams a free agent next season, Estime could have a big role on offense for the Broncos in the present and in the future.
Devaughn Vele, arguably the Broncos’ best rookie not named Bo Nix has been turning heads in recent weeks. The seventh-round rookie is becoming a reliable target who has mad some clutch catches in recent weeks. Bo Nix trusts him and he is arguably the best receiver not named Courtland Sutton on the roster right now. He appears to be a huge steal for the Broncos despite his advanced age.
Horse Tracks
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