Who will the Denver Broncos take with the 20th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft? Will the Broncos even stay at 20? Could they follow the historical Sean Payton model and move up for a player they covet, or could this Broncos version of Payton break the mold again after selecting a first-round quarterback for the first time in his head coaching career?
Anything and everything should be on the table next week in Green Bay.
But what would a trade look like for Denver? On a recent pre-draft press conference call, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah was asked specifically about the Broncos navigating the board. While Jeremiah discussed Denver's link to a running back -- North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton and Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson -- he wouldn’t rule out a move down specifically if the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants bypass quarterback at Nos. 2 and 3 overall.
“If Cleveland and the Giants, if they don’t take quarterbacks at 2 or 3, not only would they both be potentially looking to move up, they both have nearly identical draft capital," Jeremiah said Thursday. "You find out it’s almost a game of chicken with who is going to pay the biggest price and how much do they love one of these quarterbacks. I don’t even know if they like the same quarterbacks. That’s an interesting thing."
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If the New Orleans Saints don’t take QB Shadeur Sanders at No. 9 overall, Jeremiah believes the next landmine for a signal-caller would be the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 who are desperate to upgrade the position. This puts the Broncos in an interesting spot.
Who might the Broncos land if they traded back? Jeremiah feels the other Ohio State RB, Quinshon Judkins, is the name to keep in mind.
“There’s not much of a difference in Quinshon Judkins' grade, where I have him in the early 30s on my list, versus the 13th player on the list. There’s not a tremendous drop off there," he said. "So I think you could find a big-time running back at that time and get a lot of value. If I'm Denver, you’re looking at TreVeyon Henderson or trade back. I love Henderson, but if they trade back, you get his teammate in Quinshon Judkins, who's a really good player, and I get a future pick next year; maybe it’s a two. I would have to think long and hard about that.”
Outside of sliding down and earning a large ransom of picks from the Giants or Browns, Jeremiah also explained the possibility of the Broncos trading up from 20, indicating that doing so for Hampton would be a worthy move while pointing at Henderson also likely being available at 20, and the depth of the class in general.
Instead of running back, however, Jeremiah zeroed in on a prospect Denver appeared smitten with prior to free agency.
“Before free agency I would have told you [if] the Broncos were going to be ultra aggressive and trade up for somebody, it would be Colston Loveland," Jeremiah said. "He’s just a great fit for what Sean Payton does and just seemed like an obvious one. Now they won out and picked up Evan Engram and gave him some decent money. So that might take that off the table, but I still got that in the back of my mind that that’s just still such a good fit. I know that’s not the position you’re referencing, but that’s one that still has my ears perked up to see what happens there. I just keep coming back to the Loveland thing thinking that was the Sean Payton fit.”
