Broncos confirm they’ll target a position of need in the 2025 NFL Draft

The Denver Broncos didn’t get enough out of the rushing attack in the 2024 season, and it made them one dimensional in the loss to the Buffalo Bills in the postseason. After not signing a running back in free agency, are the Broncos going to be aggressive at the position in the 2025 NFL Draft?

“We’ll get a back in this draft,” Broncos general manager George Paton said Monday.

The running back class in this year’s Draft is one of the best in recent memory, with a plethora of backs that will be available later in the rounds. Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, the runner up for the 2024 Heisman Trophy, is the shining diamond in the class, but there are arguably 20 running backs in the class who were stars for their team in college and are ready to make an impact on a team that needs a boost in the run game, like the Broncos.

“It’s a strong class and there’s different flavors throughout the draft and I think you can get a good back in the second round, all the way to the sixth round. That’s how it is. There’s just so many of them,” Paton said.” Man, you have the first- and second-down power back, you have the change of pace, you have the third down, you have the three-down — Not as many three-down backs, but no, it’s a good class.”

The Broncos have already met with 17 running back prospects in some capacity heading into the Draft. Some of them were stars in college like Jeanty and Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon, while some are guys who many fans haven’t heard of, like Stephen F. Austin’s Qualan Jones.

It will be more likely that Denver ends up taking a running back in one of the later rounds rather than pouncing on Jeanty early. Paton didn’t rule out the possibility of a trade in the Draft, up or down, but how worth it will it be to give up extra capital, after all the trades Denver has made in recent years, to get Jeanty? He put together one of the best seasons in college football history, but the Broncos, sitting at pick No. 20, aren’t in a good position to get him for the right price as things currently stand.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton also talked about the importance of finding a running back in the upcoming Draft, and how the Draft class has much more depth than the free agent class.

“We felt like it was a pretty lean year in regards to free agency at that position, just relatively speaking. There is depth in the draft,” Payton said Monday.

Sean Payton: "We felt like it was a lean year" in free agency at RB. Adds that the depth of the draft class factors into not signing a free-agent RB

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) March 31, 2025

These statements from Paton and Payton should be a relief to Broncos fans. Javonte Williams, now with the Dallas Cowboys, was a shell of his former self coming off a brutal knee injury, and Jaleel McLaughlin isn’t big enough to be a bruiser back on early downs. Will Denver opt for power, or will they opt for speed when they select a back in the Draft?