Trading high picks for star receiver Jaylen Waddle left the Denver Broncos with a mediocre draft grade as they aim to win the AFC West again.
Going into the 2026 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos didn't have many pressing areas they needed to address, which is a good thing.
The Broncos traded their first and third-round choice to acquire wide receiver Jaylen Waddle in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, so adding a big-name WR1 instead of selecting at the end of Round 1 was a smart move by Denver.
The Broncos then had pick No. 62, but they traded back and didn't select a player in the first two rounds before finally making a pick in Round 3.
The Broncos selected a total of seven players this time, but three of those came in the seventh round and all but one came before pick No. 100.
Still, the Broncos roster is set.
Gennaro Filice of NFL.com gave grades for every team, and he handed the Broncos a C+, mainly because they had Day 3 selections this time around.
Here are the players Denver selected:
- Round 3 (No. 66): DT Tyler Onyedim, Texas A&M
- Round 4 (No. 108): RB Jonah Coleman, Washington
- Round 4 (No. 111): OG Kage Casey, Boise State
- Round 5 (No. 152): TE Justin Joly, N.C. State
- Round 7 (No. 246): S Miles Scott, Illinois
- Round 7 (No. 256): TE Dallen Bentley, Utah
- Round 7 (No. 257): LB Red Murdock, Buffalo
The pick of Washington Huskies RB Jonah Coleman has been a favorite by many in the industry, and he is an excellent insurance piece for the injury-prone J.K. Dobbins.
Filice agrees and called Coleman his favorite pick for Denver.
"At 5-8 and 220 pounds, Coleman has the aesthetic I’m consistently drawn to at this position. What can I say? I love bowling-ball backs! Like J.K. Dobbins, Coleman isn’t going to hit many home runs but will please Sean Payton by getting the most out of each carry," he wrote.
The "sleeper" pick for Denver was North Carolina State tight end Justin Joly, who went in the fifth round despite being projected as early as Round 3.
Joly fits the "joker" role so well, and the Broncos needed a tight end badly. In fact, reports stated that Vanderbilt's Eli Stowers might've been the choice if he was still on the board at No. 62, so that shows how much the front office was eyeing some help at the tight end position.
The Broncos are not even five months removed from an AFC title game loss, and if Bo Nix was healthy, maybe Denver would've won the AFC and made a trip to the Super Bowl, although we will never know.
So, even though the Broncos have a lower grade than most, the roster appears set, and the Broncos should be contenders in 2026.