We’re exactly one week away from the 2026 NFL Draft. Denver Broncos GM and head coach met with the media today and one of the most interesting quotes came from George Paton who noted that they were eyeing about six players with their second-round pick.
Let the speculation ensue!
Advertisement
Broncos daily recap
Broncos GM George Paton says the Broncos are focused on 6 players at pick 62
George Paton is narrowing the board. The Broncos GM told reporters his staff has homed in on six specific players they believe could be available at No. 62, saying “there’s six players we’re kind of focused on that could be there at 62 — we feel good about those players.” Paton also left the door open to trading up if one of about three targets starts sliding earlier than expected, with the Broncos’ pair of fourth-round picks giving them the draft capital flexibility to move. Given everything Denver has telegraphed this offseason — Top-30 visits heavy on tight ends like Eli Stowers, Max Klare, and Justin Joly, plus running back interest — it’s a safe bet most of that short list comes from the TE and RB pools, with perhaps an offensive lineman or defensive tackle mixed in.
Potent Quoateables
On how much confidence their success in drafting players in the second round gives them this year and if there is more pressure with one pick in the first two days
GP: “I don’t think there’s any more pressure. We’re going to go through our process. Our process has worked, and it continues to evolve. I think it’s better. I feel more prepared for this draft than I was for last year’s and the prior draft. We’ve done well in that realm. It doesn’t mean anything. We still go through our process. We feel like we have six players we’re kind of focused on that could be there at [pick] 62. We feel good about those players. We’re going to keep working through them. We’ve been down in the dungeons since the Wednesday after the Owners Meeting, just watching tape, had our meetings, now going through all these different scenarios. We feel good about 62. We feel good about the fourth round as well. That’s harder to predict obviously. We like our process, we like how it’s worked, and we feel good with where we’re at.”
Under the radar
Dane Brugler’s favorite “sleepers” in the 2026 NFL Draft.
From the FEED
Broncoman dives into a mock draft, so I wouldn’t have to do again for the fourth straight day! Let’s go!
Which six players do we think?
With Scotty giving his best guess of the players that might be on the Broncos big board at #62, I figured I would throw my AI hat in the mix and have it determine the which players scored the best that are also projected to be mid-2nd to early-3rd round picks. Let’s see if that list aligns somewhat with Scotty’s. These are all of the players who scored above 79 on the PPFS (Payton/Paton Fit Score):
Advertisement
-
Anthony Hill Jr., LB, Texas, ~94
-
Eli Stowers, TE, Vanderbilt, ~90
-
Mike Washington Jr., RB, Arkansas, ~89
-
Keylan Rutledge, OG, Georgia Tech, ~88
-
CJ Allen, LB, Georgia, ~88
-
Kyle Louis, LB, Pitt, ~86
-
Emmanuel Pregnon, OG, Oregon, ~83
-
Jacob Rodriguez, LB, Texas Tech, ~83
-
Lee Hunter, DT, Texas Tech, ~82
-
Travis Burke, OT, Memphis, ~81
-
Elijah Sarratt, WR, Indiana, ~80
-
Josiah Trotter, LB, Missouri, ~80
-
Gennings Dunker, OG, Iowa, ~80
-
Christen Miller, DT, Georgia, ~79
-
Caleb Tiernan, OT, Northwestern, ~79
*Excluded 1st-2nd tweeners (Styles 89, Faulk 88, McDonald 87, Sadiq 88, Bisontis 89, etc.)
If you don’t know what PPFS is, I’ve been doing daily posts on that research. Basically some AI-assisted research into the draft tendencies of George Paton and Sean Payton. If that research bears fruit, then the 6 players on their watch list would be in here somewhere. I suppose a couple of 1st-2nd round graded guys could fall into a trade-up range, but I didn’t want to get too deep into the weeds.
With so little premium draft capital, I would think they’d target a skill position like RB or TE, but with so many defensive linemen in the mix on this list I would not count those guys out. They could play behind a deep rotation, get experience, and develop into legit starters. Denver is definitely going that route too with roster development. The same would apply to the inside linebackers on the list too.
Anyone missing? Share a player you think Denver might have high on their board in the comments below.
