{"id":15217,"date":"2025-05-01T12:47:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/15217\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T12:47:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:47:08","slug":"did-denver-draft-r-j-harvey-pat-bryant-too-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/15217\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Denver draft R.J. Harvey, Pat Bryant too early?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag weekly during the season and periodically during the offseason. Click here to submit a question<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hi Parker, Denver used almost all of the clock before turning in their pick. Were they on the verge of trading out of that pick and it fell apart?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Brandon Brown, Rogers, Minn.<\/p>\n

Hey Brandon, the Broncos did indeed take the clock pretty far down in the first round Thursday night before taking Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron at No. 20 overall<\/a>. But that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean a deal fell apart.<\/p>\n

We know they were considering trading back because general manager George Paton said so later that night. Teams talk frameworks of trades before the draft ever starts or as a pick is approaching, but negotiating sometimes continues while a team is on the clock. It also doesn\u2019t hurt to wait and see if another team might call in late with an aggressive offer. You saw a couple of other teams move up, not far behind the Broncos, too. The New York Giants came back into the first round from No. 34 to nab Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart at No. 25 and then Atlanta came back in from No. 42 to No. 26 to double-dip on pass-rushers.<\/p>\n

Either of those teams would have had to give up quite a bit more than they did \u2014 the Giants gave up Nos. 34 and 99 plus a third-rounder next year, while Atlanta surrendered Nos. 26 and 101 for No. 42, a seventh rounder and a 2026 first-rounder \u2014 to get up to No. 20.<\/p>\n

The Broncos, though, ultimately decided that their best course of action was to just take Barron and start working the trade front Friday night.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think the Broncos were wrong by picking the \u201cbest player available\u201d in Jahdae Barron, but I think they outsmarted themselves by trading down and up the draft board to pick a running back they probably could have had two rounds later, and the second slowest receiver at the combine. I heard they fell in love with Barron and R.J. Harvey. Sometimes love is blind, but time will tell. I just felt they needed proven stars right now for this offense. Am I way off base?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joe C., Aurora<\/p>\n

Hey Joe, interesting questions. I feel pretty confident in saying UCF running back R.J. Harvey was not going to be available two rounds later when Denver took him No. 60 overall<\/a>. He might not have even been there at No. 74, their next pick. The Athletic\u2019s Mike Silver was embedded in the Jacksonville draft room<\/a>, for example, and reported that the Jaguars were aiming for either Harvey or Louisville edge rusher Ashton Gillotte at No. 70. He also indicated head coach Liam Cohen was interested in even moving up from there to get Harvey, and that\u2019s just one of 31 other teams that could have been interested. Shows you the risk of even trading back from No. 51 twice when there\u2019s a player on the board you like.<\/p>\n

As for Illinois receiver Pat Bryant<\/a>, who ran 4.61 seconds in the 40 at the combine, yes, he went earlier than almost any draft analyst thought he would. Could they have waited until No. 101 (where they traded up to get LSU defensive lineman Sai\u2019Vion Jones) or even No. 134 the next day? Maybe. One of the reasons the draft is such great fodder is because there is always a counterargument. If Bryant\u2019s good, you could just be happy with the pick. But even if he\u2019s good, you could always say, \u201cWell, they could have gotten another player at No. 74 AND him later.\u201d What if Jones were taken No. 74 and Bryant No. 101? Would that feel better?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to point out that Bryant went earlier than expected and also fair to give it some time and see how it plays out.<\/p>\n

Not the same situation but somewhat similar: In 2023, when the Broncos traded back into the third round to take cornerback Riley Moss, I broke down what the charts said about giving up a future third-round pick to move up 25 spots and take him<\/a>. And I wrote at the time that Moss was going to have to be a pretty good player in order to justify that kind of acquisition cost.<\/p>\n

Well, guess what? Turns out he\u2019s pretty good! But it didn\u2019t happen overnight, either. He dealt with the core muscle injury during camp his rookie year and was a special-teams-only player down the stretch. Then he broke out last year and is a core part of the group going forward. Nobody\u2019s going to look back at that trade and second-guess it at this point.<\/p>\n

Feels similar with Bryant. You can slice it any way you want, but the bottom line is the Broncos took him in a part of the draft where the expectation is that you get real production out of him. Maybe not Week 1, but before too long.<\/p>\n

Hey Parker, how does our secondary look with Jahdae Barron on the team? Does he play opposite Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss moves to another spot? Does he play nickel? How does Ja\u2019Quan McMillian fit?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark, Arvada<\/p>\n

Good question, Mark.<\/p>\n

With Barron, time will tell to some degree. Part of what attracted the Broncos to him is that he\u2019s a plus player outside, in the slot, at safety and potentially even as a dime linebacker type. Payton said Thursday night that Denver doesn\u2019t feel the need to \u201cpigeonhole\u201d him to one position. And it always is worth repeating: What you play in camp or Year 1 doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that\u2019s what you are long term. Remember: Pat Surtain II played in the slot when he first got to Denver in 2021.<\/p>\n

It seems the most likely spot at the outset is to play Barron in the slot and as part of sub packages. Those guys play a ton of snaps and Barron would put a pretty good battle on Ja\u2019Quan McMillian, I\u2019d bet, for the starting nickel job. That\u2019s a premium position itself in today\u2019s NFL.<\/p>\n

Long term, it\u2019s an interesting question. McMillian\u2019s a restricted free agent after this year, so the team has more control with him beyond 2025. But you could see a world in which the Broncos think either Barron or Moss is their long-term answer in the slot and the other plays outside opposite Surtain.<\/p>\n

I understand fans and analysts rushing to try to figure out whether Barron is replacing Moss or McMillian, but let\u2019s take a deep breath. It\u2019s not even OTAs yet. There\u2019s a long way to go before the season starts. Also, keep this in mind: Injuries happen. Denver\u2019s been remarkably healthy the past two seasons, but there\u2019s no way to guarantee that lasts. And even within that run of good health, both Surtain (one game) and Moss (three) missed games last year. As Paton said during the draft, \u201cWe saw what happens\u201d when injuries hit that position.<\/p>\n

The Broncos tried playing McMillian outside in base and inside in sub. They tried Levi Wallace. They eventually got good production out of Kris Abrams-Draine \u2014 a young player not to be forgotten in this conversation. But without really good corners, the preposterous set of quarterback talent in the AFC will roast you. Barron is another move to ensure that doesn\u2019t happen to Denver.<\/p>\n

Is it true that the Broncos were eyeing Emeka Egbuka with the No. 20 pick? And when he went off the board, it was the best player available?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rick, Denver<\/p>\n

Hey Rick, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the Broncos really liked Egbuka, but Paton and Payton all along said their offensive priorities were more focused on running back and tight end. That\u2019s also what we heard around the league up until the final week, which is when disinformation campaigns rocket into full gear around the league.<\/p>\n

You never fully know, right? But I thought it was interesting that all along through the spring, Paton and Payton talked about liking their receivers, about liking their positioning at No. 20 given what the board looked like, about needing a running back and to continue fortifying their defense.<\/p>\n

Then all of a sudden draft week hits and they\u2019re aggressively trying to trade up and they like the receivers in the first round and all of this other noise. It\u2019s hard to categorically rule any of that out, but I\u2019d just say it didn\u2019t surprise me that, end of the day, they ended up picking at No. 20 and their next plan was to trade back for a running back<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, the tight end thing probably didn\u2019t play out exactly the way they hoped, but you\u2019re not often going to go through a draft and hit your top-of-the-board guys at every position you want to get.<\/p>\n

They clearly didn\u2019t think running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Omarion Hampton or tight end Mason Taylor, were the best use of the No. 20 pick. They also had to know how unlikely it was that any of them would be around by No. 51. That\u2019s why a trade back always felt like a real possibility. Instead, they chose Barron over any of that.<\/p>\n

The other thing I think \u2014 although I don\u2019t categorically know \u2014 is that if they\u2019d gone best available but Barron wasn\u2019t there, it still would have been a defensive player rather than Egbuka or Hampton. Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon had some teams somewhat concerned on the medical front, but he went one pick later to Pittsburgh. Then, Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams went No. 28 to Detroit. Neither of those would have been a big shock at No. 20.<\/p>\n

Any of our undrafted rookie free agents stand out to you? I\u2019m hoping Johnny Walker Jr. lands with the team.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Paul L., Denver<\/p>\n

Hey Paul, thanks for writing in. Off the cuff, Walker and former Michigan running back Chris Evans (actually a minicamp invite, not technically a rookie free agent) are interesting and so are the offensive linemen, given that Denver didn\u2019t draft any of those. Walker\u2019s teammate at Missouri, defensive lineman Kristian Williams<\/a>, was a good college player, too.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always interested in seeing a day or two of rookie minicamp because normally there is a player or two that jump out that perhaps you\u2019re not expecting. That doesn\u2019t always mean they make the team or that we can pick out all of the promising guys in one afternoon of watching, but I remember in 2022, Brandon Johnson definitely made an impression. Then, in 2023, among the standouts were Jaleel McLaughlin<\/a> and Alex Palczewski, who each ended up making the team, along with running back Jacques Patrick, who did not. Then last year, Devaughn Vele, who was not an undrafted guy but obviously unheralded as a seventh-round pick, was the big eye-catcher.<\/p>\n

What surprised you the most about this year\u2019s Broncos draft efforts?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.<\/p>\n

Hey Ed, thanks for writing in as always. I\u2019ve learned to try not to be surprised about what happens during the draft.<\/p>\n

You can talk to as many people as possible and have good information and all of that and there are still twists and turns and surprises.<\/p>\n

In general, I think I\u2019m more surprised the Broncos traded back twice on Day 2<\/a> than I am that they stayed at No. 20 and went with the best player on their board \u2014 though nobody, present company included, had them pegged as taking a cornerback in the first round<\/a>. Once they used their pick on Day 1, I thought Payton might get itchy to try to move up the board in the second round. But they\u2019d have had to go a long way up for a running back or a tight end. The Ohio State backs were gone by No. 39, Taylor went at No. 42 and then two more tight ends came off quickly, too, in Terrence Ferguson at No. 46 and Elijah Arroyo at No. 50.<\/p>\n

Once that happened, the trade-backs made sense. And they really do love Harvey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So I guess the simplest way to say it is I came away surprised they didn\u2019t end up taking one of the first four running backs OR first five tight ends in the draft. But hey, they took the sixth quarterback last year and that worked out pretty well. So, let\u2019s see how it shakes out.<\/p>\n

With Shedeur Sanders<\/a> dropping so far in the draft, did the Broncos ever consider picking him up?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jimmy, Lakewood<\/p>\n

Hey Jimmy, man, can you imagine? There would have been 500 reporters at rookie minicamp next weekend.<\/p>\n

Payton made it clear on Friday night that he thinks Sanders will play in the league and that he was surprised by the fall. He\u2019s also talked in the past about wanting to be a place that develops quarterbacks, even if your starter is in place.<\/p>\n

If Nix were a couple more years into his career? Maybe. I don\u2019t at all mean this as really anything to do with Sanders from a personality or persona standpoint, but I\u2019d bet you there are few things Payton is more conscious of than the environment in his quarterback room. They\u2019re high on quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, obviously, and they brought Jarrett Stidham back. It feels like they\u2019re going for as much continuity around Nix as possible day to day. Maybe Sanders would have been a great add to the room, I\u2019m just not surprised that the default is to rock the boat as little as possible.<\/p>\n

Still, the prospect of taking Sanders on Day 3, developing him and allowing him to work behind the scenes for a while and then extracting excess value down the road had to at least be a little bit of a thought for a lot of teams that are set at quarterback, right?<\/p>\n

In Denver, it would have been a great story and it would have gotten several metric tons of attention. Alas.<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag weekly during the season and periodically during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[8232,232,564,231,258,2426,1271,7,1331,1272,8233,8234,1006,1273,3872,3894,929,926,6,3267,928,1514,17,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-15217","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-brandon-johnson","9":"tag-broncos","10":"tag-colorado","11":"tag-denver","12":"tag-denver-broncos","13":"tag-denverbroncos","14":"tag-devaughn-vele","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-front-range","17":"tag-george-paton","18":"tag-jaquan-mcmillian","19":"tag-jacques-patrick","20":"tag-jahdae-barron","21":"tag-jaleel-mclaughlin","22":"tag-jarrett-stidham","23":"tag-kris-abrams-draine","24":"tag-latest-headlines","25":"tag-more-broncos-news","26":"tag-nfl","27":"tag-pat-surtain-ii","28":"tag-r-j-harvey","29":"tag-riley-moss","30":"tag-shedeur-sanders","31":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114432655310000370","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}