The Denver Broncos have high expectations this season after they showed they were ready to compete for a playoff spot in 2024. The team has been getting most of the respect it deserves over the offseason as the rest of the NFL world has begun to realize exactly what Sean Payton is building in Denver, but the orange and blue received a not-so-favorable ranking in an important aspect of the game on Tuesday.
While the Broncos have the best cornerback in the league as a part of one of the best starting lineups around, they were tabbed with the worst ranking for any NFL team based on under-25 talent by ESPN. The criteria for the selection included starts and snaps played by those younger players, contract values, injuries/suspensions, quality of play, importance of their respective positions and the value they added to the team in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Broncos did not have a single “blue-chip” player marked, and had a lot of solid players graduate from the club this offseason in Bo Nix, Pat Surtain II, Nik Bonitto and Riley Moss. Those guys are now old enough to rent a car, but can’t group themselves with the young talents of the league.
Denver was ranked No. 26 on this same list a season ago, but those guys getting older moved the needle enough in ESPN’s eye to give the Broncos the worst ranking. Is it the right call?
The team’s best under-25 player is Marvin Mims Jr., who is 23. After him there’s Jonah Elliss, 22, Jaleel McLaughlin, 24, and Audric Estime, 21. For the Rookies, RJ Harvey is already 24 while Jahdae Barron is 23. If wide receiver Pat Bryant keeps performing like he has been through the start of training camp and Troy Franklin fixes his hands, they could add some value to the group at 22 years of age.
It is unclear if the ranks took Drew Sanders’ injury that he suffered over the weekend into account. Many were curious to see if he was going to have a larger role this season, but will likely have to wait a while to see him out there.
This ranking doesn’t change the fact that the Broncos still have a very talented roster. The majority of the team’s production comes from guys aged 25-30, with Alex Singleton, Garett Bolles and Will Lutz being the three old souls of the team who are still making big contributions. Sean Payton’s philosophy the last few seasons has been to spend his earlier picks on guys who have played a lot of college football in Nix, Barron and Harvey, so this isn’t much of a surprise that the team doesn’t have a whole lot of its production coming from the youth.
The Chargers and the Raiders slid in at No. 10 and No. 11 on the list, respectively, while the Chiefs found themselves at No. 13. There’s a lot of good, young talent in the AFC West, but the Broncos have the tools right now to take the reins back from Kansas City and win the West.
