The Denver Broncos have a solid core of veteran players that make up most of the roster, but there aren't any stud 25-or-younger players.
The Denver Broncos are one of the oldest teams by average age in the National Football League, but the years of experience are extremely valuable and led them to a deep playoff run in 2025.
The Broncos’ veteran core got them to where they are today, but eventually, Denver is going to need to find replacements for key players that will be around for years to come. The best chance of doing that is by having lots of draft picks in the first few rounds that hit and become homegrown stars, but the Broncos didn’t have any early-round picks this year.
Because of the lack of star players under the age of 25-years-old, ESPN ranked the Broncos as the 31st-best young core in the NFL without having any “blue chip” pieces under 25.
ESPN’s Aaron Schatz came up with these rankings based on a multitude of factors, including number of starts and snaps, quality of play, and position.
Denver does have quality young players around the age of 25, but the best are wide receivers who may not get consistent playing time, and the addition of star receiver Jaylen Waddle complicates that even more.
“There's a lot of youth in Denver at wide receiver, although we don't know who will get the most playing time after the Jaylen Waddle trade,” Schatz wrote Wednesday. “Marvin Mims Jr. is 24, while Pat Bryant and Troy Franklin are both 23.”
Bryant and Franklin are exciting to watch, but there’s tons of speculation that Waddle and fellow star Courtland Sutton will take up a majority of the target share, making it tougher for those guys to make a consistent impact.
Denver has a couple of young defensive players that are going to get more playing time with a bigger role this season, but they are turning 25 midseason and will have graduated, like running back RJ Harvey.
“On the defensive side of the ball, cornerback Jahdae Barron will turn 25 in December and cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine will be 25 in October. Otherwise, the Broncos are way down here in part because they didn't have a pick in 2026 until the third round (that first selection, defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim, is 23-years-old.)”
Denver has plenty of players that are still considered young that will make an impact for the team for the next few years, but it could be a little alarming that the team doesn’t have any bona fide stud players with years to grow.
