Can Denver’s ‘Superior’ Rookie Wide Receiver Unseat a Two Time All Pro and Transform the Broncos’ Offense Forever?

You didn’t have to watch all 17 games for the Denver Broncos in 2024 to realize they have a very talented player in Marvin Mims Jr.

You might need to watch all 17 games twice to try and figure out the answer as to how the Broncos should use Mims in their offense, as he’s already a 2-time NFL All-Pro return specialist through his first 2 NFL seasons.

For Mims, his career longevity and a career payday will only come once he shows himself as a viable threat at wide receiver. That’s something he might not get the chance at in 2025 with the addition of third round pick Pat Bryant, who could displace Mims’  in Denver’s offense fairly quickly.

While Bryant didn’t grab headlines when he was picked, where he was picked is what we should be paying more attention to. Experts had Bryant projected as a late round pick — sixth or seventh round — but the Broncos and head coach Sean Payton saw enough to take him at No. 74 overall.

In his first 3 drafts with the Broncos, Payton has taken wide receivers more than any other position — 4 times since 2023 but never in the first round.

Bryant has drawn early comparisons to the best wide receiver Payton has drafted in 2 seasoons as an NFL head coach. In 2016, Payton selected Ohio State’s Michael Thomas in the second round (No. 47 overall) — 3 years later Thomas was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year after setting the NFL single-season record with 149 receptions to go with 1,725 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns.

“My main focus is when the ball’s in the air, it’s mine, and I’m better than the man that’s in front of me,” Bryant told The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider on May 5.

Broncos Overlooked Red Flag in Pre-Draft Process

In order to make the leap to pick Bryant in the third round, the Broncos had to look past one glaring deficiency. While Bryant has ideal size for an NFL wide receiver at 6-foot-2 and 204 pounds, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.61 seconds at the NFL scouting combine — slow for his position by any metric.

NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein projected Bryant as a sixth round pick.

“Bryant has good size but lacks suddenness and pure vertical gas,” Zierlein wrote. ” … Bryant has average play strength but musters it all when competing for the catch … the ball skills are superior, but he needs to prove he can find ways to uncover against NFL press coverage to become more than a downfield target with backup value.”

Competing isn’t a problem for Bryant. He set the Illinoios single-season record with 10 touchdown receptions in 2024 and had one of the more clutch catch-and-runs anyone saw in 2024 on a 40-yard game-winning touchdown reception against Rutgers with just 3 seconds left.

Broncos Only Have One ‘Safe’ Spot in WR Room

Star wide receiver Courtland Sutton led the Broncos with 81 receptions for 1,081 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2024 and should be considered the only “safe” player at the position in 2024. Everything else is up for grabs.

Mims’ stat line in 2024 — 39 receptions for 503 yards and 6 touchdowns — doesn’t jump off the page, but is slightly deceiving.

Over the last 7 games of the regular season, Mims had 28 receptions for 434 yards and all 6 touchdowns, including a pair of 100-yard receiving games as the Broncos went 5-2 in that stretch to clinch their first playoff berth since 2015.