A No Bull look at the Denver Broncos receivers and tight end roster, its strengths, weaknesses, and what we can expect George Paton and Sean Payton to target this offseason
With the Denver Broncos offseason kicking off, it is a great time to step back, take a look at the roster, and play a little armchair GM leading up to all of the excitement of possible free-agent signings, trades, and of course the NFL Draft.
Let me give a tip of the hat to www.footballguys.com for their information on snap percentages and www.overthecap.com for their information on current contracts for all players.
All of this is my personal opinion based on my tried-and-true eye test of what I’ve seen from these players on the field this season. For the sake of brevity, I’ll be leaving out guys who didn’t see the field in any significant way in 2024 and most Unrestricted Free Agents.
Enjoy the discussion, join the subjective debate, and share your thoughts (good or bad) in the comments.
Next up, we’ll examine the receivers and determine what holes the Broncos should look to fill in the 2025 NFL offseason.
Player Rating Key
- Project / developmental – lacking necessary skills to contribute as it stands today
- Backup quality – Can play, but isn’t a guy you want out there every snap
- Average starter – Doesn’t bring anything special to the table, but can do the job
- Good starter – An above-average talent
- Blue chip player – Top 10 talent in the NFL at what he does
Unit Rating Key
- Critical Need – lack of talent at starter and depth
- Lacking at least one starter
- Mediocre need
- Solid talent and depth
- Elite talent level
Wide Receivers
Courtland Sutton – 4
Courtland Sutton on the offensive side of the ball was the most important factor outside of quarterback for our team to win enough games to make the playoffs. He’s the defacto #1 WR on the team and the most veteran skill player the Broncos have.
I value Sutton as a #2 WR. He’s still a very good player, but he lacks the ability to consistently get separation likely due to his injury history and age. He also has a significant problem with dropping the ball.
He’s still got a lot of value as a jump ball receiver and a guy who runs consistent routes that will at times get easy catches downfield. In the long term, I don’t see him as a good option for the Broncos. He’ll likely see free agency after this season or get traded assuming there’s a team out there who needs a veteran wide receiver in 2025.
Devaughn Vele – 3
Devaughn Vele was a 7th-round draft pick in 2024 for the Broncos and honestly looked like a superb pick that late in the draft. He contributed more as the season wore on overtaking Humphries for targets.
He’s a long wide receiver who runs clean routes. I didn’t see great top-end speed or quickness from him that could create separation. He’s definitely not reached his ceiling yet though and I’m curious to see if he can take his game to another level next season.
Marvin Mims Jr – 3
Marvin Mims Jr. is the guy on the team that has speed that is just at a different gear than normal. Another positive is that he’s shown really good capability to catch the ball even when contested which is impressive given his smaller stature. His speed makes him a potent weapon if you can get him the ball in space. He’s always a threat to score and that makes him valuable to this team.
The problem is that he’s not developed the kind of route running you want in a guy to make him a complete receiver. He runs routes out to the flat and he runs go routes.
Troy Franklin – 2
Troy Franklin came in as a speedy wide receiver that has history with Bo Nix. He looked like an inferior version of Mims from what I saw this year. He’s another speed guy who’s got that different gear, but he lacks the catching chops that Mims has. He got force-fed targets this season and while he did make a few big scores, he had more misses by far.
He also had the kind of drop issues that we saw from Sutton with many times where the ball hit him in the hands and he for some reason wasn’t able to haul it in. The difference is that Franklin is a rookie and this is the NFL where drops should not be a normal part of a wide receiver’s game. Sean Payton poured a lot of snaps into the development of Franklin. In my mind, this training camp is going to be critical for his young career. With Mims seeing to be a more consistent option, Franklin can and probably should lose snaps this coming season as the Broncos try to improve the quality of play at receiver.
Unit Rating – 2
This receiver group definitely plays hard, but the production was severely lacking in 2024. This is one of the key areas of need for the Broncos in 2025. They need a legitimate #1 wide receiver. They need more depth and talent in the room that can create separation and catch consistently. I think there is going to be a ton of competition in training camp here as the Broncos look to evolve their offense.
Look for the Broncos to spend in free agency and use some high draft picks on receivers in the draft.
Tight Ends
Adam Trautman – 3
Adam Trautman looked to me to be the standard issue NFL tight end. His blocking was excellent. He was able to run routes and catch here and there. The blocking aspect of his game is honestly the standard by which other tight ends on the team should be measured. He’s solid at the point of attack and doesn’t get pushed around. That alone gives him a role in the tight end room, but he’s likely not the receiving weapon at tight end you want in a modern NFL offense.
Nate Adkins – 3
Nate Adkins is the same kind of tight end as Trautman: an excellent blocking tight end who can run routes and catch in a pinch. He lacks speed, quickness, and route running that would make him a high-target tight end, but showed in 2024 that he’s more than capable of making plays as such when given the opportunity.
Lucas Krull – 2
Heading into the season, Lucas Krull was the darling of the tight end room. He was going to be the next joker tight end for the Broncos as he was the guy with the athleticism and receiving skills that could open up the passing game for the Broncos. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. He was just another tight end on the roster getting a catch here or there as the season wore on. He’s a guy that doesn’t have the same blocking chops as the other two tight ends which is the reason I’ve got him scored lower. He’s a one-dimensional tight end who doesn’t even do that at a high enough level to see the field much.
Unit Rating – 2
The Broncos have some really solid blocking tight ends that are decent as red zone options or as short-yardage receivers from the tight end position. What the team needs is an upgrade in the way of a real threat at tight end to stretch the field. I think this position is one that is highly likely to be targeted in the draft as real talent at tight end can be costly in free agency.
Defensive roster status overall
Special Teams roster status overall
Offensive roster status overall
- Interior Linemen – 3
- Offensive Tackles – 5
- Wide Receivers – 2
- Tight Ends – 2