It’s safe to say that, at least on paper, the Broncos had a successful draft this year. They managed to address every hole on the roster and picked up some great-value picks and managed not to reach for anyone.
The opinion from the media and Broncos Country is that Denver is improved heading into the remainder of the offseason. And the organization feels the same way. Here’s how GM George Paton was feeling after the draft:
“I think we both feel really good about the last couple days and the team in general.
I talked about it last night. We had seven total picks and yet, we also got [WR Jaylen] Waddle. So feel good about the team, feel good about the weekend. I think we helped our depth; we helped our team in a lot of areas. We wanted to get younger in both lines. I feel like we did that. Wanted to get some offensive help as well, more explosion. I think we helped ourselves at running back and tight end and just depth across the board. So I think we got younger; I think we got better over the weekend. You factor in our first-round pick is a really good player so feel good about that as a whole. I think we got great make up. You go down the list [and] there are captains on this list, and I could go through each of these players. We just added to a really good locker room.”
One of the strongest parts of their draft was how they managed to pick up high-level talent late on day three of the draft. Safety Miles Scott and linebacker Red Murdock have a great chance of making the final 53-man roster. Here’s what Sean Payton and George Paton have to say about them:
Payton: “[S] Miles [Scott] we were real familiar with, talking with ‘Palcho’ (T Alex Palczewski) and [WR] Pat [Bryant]. These guys were teammates. Illinois had a handful of players drafted. It would be very normal, especially when a player’s younger on our roster, [and] has been on the same team. His name came up and up. He went in with Pat as a receiver and then was converted. So with both our players, his name came up a number of times. Throughout the process, I think we became very familiar with him. So there’s versatility, special-teams flex.”
Paton: “With Miles, I think the ball skills. I think he had seven interceptions throughout his career. [He is] very physical for a former receiver, and instincts for a guy who hasn’t played it all that long. We thought he had really good anticipation and instincts, and thus he had the interceptions. I think he fits in with our group and what we look for in safeties. Then [LB Red] Murdock, just man, he’s a tackling machine. Just really instinctive. Really good against the run. He may hold the record—you guys may know—for forced fumbles. Everyone talked about the Texas Tech guy [Dolphins LB Jacob Rodriguez], and he was amazing, but this guy—oh my gosh, if you look at his career and all the forced fumbles he had. Just a nose for the ball, relentless motor. Think he could be a good special teamer. Great make up, all of these guys I think have great make up.”
The team seemed to have a theme of drafting defense on day two and drafting the offense on day three of the draft. Was it intentional?
Payton: “If you ran 100 of our scenarios that we discussed, that earlier pick was at other positions. The next morning, that would have been hard. We had an idea of who might be there at that first pick, but it was both offensively and defensively. That was the hard part.”
Paton: “No… I wish we were that good at forecasting. I hate saying, ‘The best player,’ but we just kind of took the best players as they came. Sometimes need and the best player intersected, and it worked out. But no, it just kind of worked out that way. The defense yesterday, and then we had three straight offense. Then two more defense. So it just kind of worked out that way.”
The front office had their work cut out for them on day three of the draft, especially considering how spread out their picks were. Here’s how they handled that issue:
Payton: “See if this makes sense—and I’m going to age myself a little. The internet was what, 2008? When did we ditch the Blackberries? I know back in ’06 it was just the Blackberries and then you’d have a few guides. Now here we are in 2026. [Pro Football Hall of Fame Head Coach] Bill [Parcells] used to always say, ‘95 percent of the discussion, relative to the coverage, is around one-seventh of the draft.’ It’s covered so well now that I think if you went back to pre-internet—and there were just a few books, some television shows, you would’ve seen maybe a little bit of a broader dispersion rate in the first round. We were watching the draft last night, and there’s let’s say, 18 or 19 players off the board. Who’s going to be the first one that’s just outside the norm? Look. A team like the Rams make a decision… Just envision then you get into second, third, and it just changes drastically where teams just see players. It’s because of the internet, it’s just as you continue to look and value player 79 or 84, it drastically changes. Every year you’re hoping as a team that players to the right of your board are getting taken to your left and pushing players that you want… You’re hoping that’s happening throughout the draft. That’s been pretty constant compared to maybe years ago. I mean they gathered in a basement when there were nine owners (Laughs). There were umpteen rounds. We were reading… We had some time today. (Laughs)”
Paton: “[Rounds] Five to seven, I don’t know how long that was. Three hours?”
Payton: “So we read who’s the top seventh [round] pick of all time? There were seven or eight [Pro Football] Hall of Famers. The sixth round was easy, fifth round. Then someone in the room was filling us in on the 19th round. I can remember when I was in college, I think there were 13 rounds. So it’s certainly come a long way.”
