We are heading into offseason mode now, but we do have a schedule release extravaganza coming up. Until then, I’ll just be running into a deeper recap of each Denver Broncos draft pick — just in case anyone missed some details about them along the way. We did publish quite a few articles over the weekend…
We’ll start this Monday with Denver’s third-round selection of Texas A&M defensive lineman Tyler Onydim.
Teams are wrapping things up, so this daily recap section may be going into hibernation here in the coming weeks. We’ll have to find something else to talk about soon!
Paton: ‘We helped our team in a lot of areas’ George Paton walked away from draft weekend feeling good about what Denver accomplished with limited capital. “We helped our depth; we helped our team in a lot of areas,” the GM said, noting the goals were to get younger on both lines and add offensive explosiveness. The Broncos made seven selections: DT Tyler Onyedim (Texas A&M, Rd. 3 No. 66), RB Jonah Coleman (Washington, Rd. 4 No. 108), OG Kage Casey (Boise State, Rd. 4 No. 111), TE Justin Joly (NC State, Rd. 5 No. 152), S Miles Scott (Illinois, Rd. 7 No. 246), TE Dallen Bentley (Utah, Rd. 7 No. 256), and LB Red Murdock (Buffalo, Rd. 7 No. 257) — checking boxes at nearly every identified need without a first-round pick on the board.
Denver Broncos have signed 13 undrafted free agents Denver wasted no time after the draft ended, inking 13 UDFAs to round out the 90-man roster. The 20 total additions (seven draft picks plus 13 UDFAs) will require a couple of roster cuts before deals are finalized. The article highlights Denver’s rich history of finding legitimate contributors through the UDFA process — Chris Harris Jr., Rod Smith, Shaq Barrett, and most recently Ja’Quan McMillian all went undrafted before becoming key pieces for the franchise. If even one or two of these 13 follow that path, the post-draft haul could end up rivaling the draft itself.
On what stood out about DT Tyler Onyedim and what he will bring to the defense
Sean Payton: “I think going through this process, it was really the athleticism and playing a position that it’s always hard to find defensive tackles. His strike, his shed. But it was the athlete, make up. Those were the traits.”
On if he thinks DT Tyler Onyedim could potentially fill the role previously played by Titans DL John Franklin-Myers
SP: “Definitely when we’re taking a player in that spot, we discuss vision all the time. Yes, absolutely. They’re going to come in [and] earn their place. We go through this all the time. After the read, Broncos’ vision Year 1. It was positive, not only with the scouts, but with the coaches as well.”
On moving back and waiting until the end of the third round to make their first pick while watching players go off the board
George Paton: “It’s a typical draft. There was a run at certain positions as we figured there would be. It fell like we thought it would. I think I mentioned we had six players, and they all started going—the six. [DT] Tyler [Onyedim] was one of the six. It fell kind of like we thought it would. Yesterday as you mentioned, that’s a boring day, but we forget, we did trade for one of the better receivers in the league [WR Jaylen Wadle], so it was a good day.”
On how reflective this pick is of their desire to build the trenches and win at the line of scrimmage
SP: “When the season ends and you begin to look at free agency, there are certain positions that are just harder to find. When you look at our roster, it could have been offensive line at the right position. It could have been a few other positions. It’s harder to find those defensive linemen and offensive linemen. When the window of free agency begins, they’re valued. They’re hard.”
On what Defensive Line Coach Jamar Cain shared about DT Tyler Onyedim during the pre-draft process
SP: “I think there are a series of postseason—call it spring—checks. Combine, visits, learning. Those were extremely positive and very important to the process. Bronco fit. I think our scouting staff, all the guys that work on it have a really good vision as to maybe what our team is expecting as well sitting here in 2026 regarding make up and toughness. It was Jamar, but it was area scouts, cross-check scouts. There’s so much that goes in [to it]. When the process ends, how maybe reports total? There would be eight to 10, conservatively. Then the board is set. With this pick, I felt like together for the last call it three weeks [or a] month, that group of six, seven, eight players, the amount of film that you continue to challenge yourself with. So you feel like you really know exactly the vision and the traits because if you’re picking at [No.] 14 or 15, there is a two or three players spray or dispersion. You back it up a little bit, and that gets a little wider. We were a week ahead I felt like, and there was a lot of film on him watched.”
On if DT Tyler Onyedim showed an expanded portfolio at Texas A&M
GP: At Iowa State they were playing him at a different… It was a 3-3-5 scheme. He was two-gapping, playing blocks. He wasn’t penetrating; he wasn’t rushing as much. He got to see and do more at A&M which he’ll be doing here. The tape was good at Iowa State, but we really liked it at A&M.”
SP: “That defensive scheme sometimes, that’s one of the challenges to projecting but the importance of him at the A&M exposure… You got to see a guy play a different position or technique. I think that probably helped a lot of teams, not just us.”
On DT Tyler Onyedim’s character and how he fits in the defense
SP: “It’s one of the things I think we were just talking about. As you begin to procure talent into a roster that we have, into a culture that we have, it’s very important. I think the current environment today—and I’m talking about college football. There has been a lot discussed about NIL, [transfer] portal, eligibility. We’re kind of passed the COVID after this year. But that current environment almost adds a couple test tubes to the benefit of clubs, I think, relative to how they handle maybe money, how they handle the process, whether it’s transferring… It’s just a little bit more available. We probably had more in the box category than two years ago. I think you’re getting more opportunities to evaluate behavior.”