Broncos pre-draft visit reveals their true feelings about wide receiver

The Denver Broncos have given every indicator that they are relatively pleased with their wide receiver position in the 2025 offseason, especially by not signing anybody to help out in NFL Free Agency.

They still have time to do that, but nobody is really buying the idea that the team is pleased with its current group of players at the wide receiver position. Courtland Sutton is the WR1 on the roster right now and he's approaching the age of 30 and is in the last year of his contract. Marvin Mims is the WR2 on the team and he really didn't have a breakthrough until the second half of last season.

The Broncos like 2024 draft picks Troy Franklin and Devaughn Vele, who could both end up being major components of the offense, but a recent pre-draft visit helps give us an indicator of the team's true feelings at the position right now.

Broncos host Missouri WR Luther Burden for top-30 pre-draft visit

There are a variety of reasons why teams bring in players for pre-draft visits. For some teams, it's a deliberate smokescreen. For others, it's a chance to get to know players personally and differentiate them from other prospects. For almost everybody, it's a recruiting chance to get guys who might be undrafted free agents.

The last point is a major reason why the Broncos bring some guys in on pre-draft visits, but Missouri's Luther Burden obviously doesn't fit in that particular group. Burden is projected to land somewhere in the 1st or 2nd round and based on the way he played in 2023, most people can't even fathom that he would last to the 2nd round.

Burden had a bit of a down year in 2024, but his skill set is still extremely similar to that of a player like Deebo Samuel with his run-after-the-catch abilities. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com has compared him to Garrett Wilson, interestingly enough.

So what does this visit tell us about what the Broncos really think about their wide receiver position. Well, it's a clear indicator that they are willing to spend one of their top draft picks at the position, which would fly in the face a little bit of their confidence in the guys they currently have. I have not been sold on just going with the same group of guys from last year and hoping for progression, either.

We saw great moments from each of the guys, but absolutely no consistency. The most consistent player was Sutton and obviously his contract situation is in limbo right now, though it seems he will eventually get paid.

The Broncos can't mess around when it comes to the weapons around Bo Nix. They are already heading into the 2025 NFL Draft without a true RB1 on the roster and they could certainly use an upgrade at wide receiver as well. Their pre-draft visit with Luther Burden seems to indicate their understanding of the latter point.