This past week, the NFL scouting world descended on Mobile, Alabama, to attend the 2026 Panini Senior Bowl and get an up-close look at some of this draft’s most exciting prospects.

Among those prospects, who would make the most sense for the Broncos? Let’s take a look.

Mike Washington Jr., RB, Arkansas

Mike Washington Jr. would be an excellent fit for the Denver Broncos’ backfield, as Sean Payton searches for his next Mark Ingram or J.K. Dobbins to pair with R.J. Harvey, and he only looks more appealing after his strong Senior Bowl showing.

Washington has a strong, compact build at 6-foot-1 and 228 pounds, but he still boasts surprising long-speed and tantalizing quick-twitch acceleration. He also demonstrates exceptional patience and vision, along with an understanding of how to maximize his physical gifts, with a violent, downhill running style that sees him routinely impose his will on SEC defenses.

Unfortunately, Washington does have some serious drawbacks. As a fifth-year senior, Washington has taken a lot more hits than your average college running back. He also has a limited impact on the passing game, considering he’s unrefined as both a blocker and pass-catcher, despite showing promise in both areas. Most concerning of all, Washington has produced an insanely high fumble rate of 2.7% during his collegiate career. For reference’s sake, Melvin Gordon fumbled the ball on 2.0% of his touches during his Broncos tenure.

That said, if the Broncos’ coaching staff believes in their ability to correct his fumbling habit, he would be a great fit with Harvey, even as late-down impact continues to develop.

Max Iheanachor, OT, Arizona St.

Oftentimes, the Senior Bowl serves as the ‘Eureka’ moment, where the NFL landscape unearths an unexpected first-round prospect. In 2024, it was Quinyon Mitchell, and in 2025, it was Grey Zabel — both of whom have gone on to have tremendous starts to their NFL careers.

Max Iheanachor might be the next in that lineage, and he’s taken a fascinating path to get here.

Iheanachor is a Nigerian native who grew up playing basketball and soccer and didn’t play football until 2021, at East Los Angeles Community College, and two years later, he was starting for Arizona State. His relative inexperience shows up on tape with footwork and hand placement that lag behind his peers at the top of this class, but it’s forgivable considering his already impressive development arc and freakish athletic upside.

At 6-foot-6 and 330 pounds, he fits the physical archetype Sean Payton tends to prioritize, but he moves much better than most other titans, likely thanks to his basketball and soccer background. Iheanachor is remarkably fluid and has surprisingly little trouble operating in space, which covers up many of the technical shortcomings.

Most importantly, he’s developing at an extremely rapid rate. At the start of the 2023 season, he was a JuCo dart-throw who had received minimal offensive line coaching. By the end of 2025, he was a surefire top 100 NFL draft pick. One month into 2026, and he’s getting first-round buzz after shutting down the Senior Bowl’s best.

For a Broncos team that can afford to be patient at tackle, Iheanachor would be a home-run pick to snuff out a future problem before it ever develops.

Bryce Boettcher, LB, Oregon

The Denver Broncos could look to strengthen both their linebacking group and their Oregon-to-Denver pipeline by targeting Bryce Boettcher in this year’s draft.

Both Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad are set to be unrestricted free agents this offseason, but even if Denver opts to bring both back — which seems unlikely — they’ll still need to upgrade the unit that served as the defense’s Achilles heel.

Boettcher could not only help fill the void left by Singleton and/or Strnad, but he would alleviate one of Broncos Country’s long-held frustrations and could also help Vance Joseph maximize Dre Greenlaw.

Greenlaw is at his best when leaning into his physicality and firing downhill, single-handedly blowing up the offensive operation. Out of necessity, he was going to have to be more of a coverage player in Denver because the Broncos have no other athletes at linebacker like Greenlaw, who can hang with athletic tight ends and running backs in space.

He’s also a terrific blitzer, which aligns with Joseph’s defense. Boettcher’s limitation is how his smaller stature limits his physicality, but he’s a tremendous coverage player with a safety background.

Although he isn’t a plug-and-play starter, Boettcher is a high-upside linebacker prospect who could provide immediate depth and special teams support before eventually taking over a starting role.

Darrell Jackson Jr., DL, FSU

The Denver Broncos’ defense has been elite each of the past two seasons, but one consistent weak point has been their inability to match up with larger, more physically imposing offenses. Over the past two seasons, AFC powers like the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens — who aren’t going anywhere — have bullied Denver on the ground.

To curb that, it’s time the Broncos add a bully of their own, like Florida State defensive lineman Darrell Jackson Jr.

Jackson was a late addition to the Senior Bowl roster, but after shining as arguably the best talent at the East-West Shrine Bowl the week prior, he was quickly added to the lineup down in Mobile.

The Florida State product packs the punch of a double-barreled shotgun blast, delivering powerful strikes with his long arms that regularly blow opponents off the line of scrimmage. He refuses to be moved in the run game, thanks to his impressive strength and his remarkable 6-foot-5, 328-pound frame, which would immediately make him the largest player on the Broncos’ roster.

A large part of the excitement around Jackson at these college all-star games is that he’s been demonstrating much more pass-rush potential than he showed during his collegiate career. That said, any pass-rush production you get out of Jackson should be considered gravy. Still, Denver would be wise to add such a forceful run-stuffer who could add size and power to the defense.