Broncos Mailbag: Did Denver get enough value in the draft taking RB R.J. Harvey, WR Pat Bryant on Day 2? ...Middle East

Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag weekly during the season and periodically during the offseason. Click here to submit a question.

Hi Parker, Denver used almost all of the clock before turning in their pick. Were they on the verge of trading out of that pick and it fell apart?

— Brandon Brown, Rogers, Minn.

Hey Brandon, the Broncos did indeed take the clock pretty far down in the first round Thursday night before taking Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron at No. 20 overall. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a deal fell apart.

We know they were considering trading back because general manager George Paton said so later that night. Teams talk frameworks of trades before the draft ever starts or as a pick is approaching, but negotiating sometimes continues while a team is on the clock. It also doesn’t hurt to wait and see if another team might call in late with an aggressive offer. You saw a couple of other teams move up, not far behind the Broncos, too. The New York Giants came back into the first round from No. 34 to nab Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart at No. 25 and then Atlanta came back in from No. 42 to No. 26 to double-dip on pass-rushers.

Either of those teams would have had to give up quite a bit more than they did — the Giants gave up Nos. 34 and 99 plus a third-rounder next year, while Atlanta surrendered Nos. 26 and 101 for No. 42, a seventh rounder and a 2026 first-rounder — to get up to No. 20.

The Broncos, though, ultimately decided that their best course of action was to just take Barron and start working the trade front Friday night.

I don’t think the Broncos were wrong by picking the “best player available” in Jahdae Barron, but I think they outsmarted themselves by trading down and up the draft board to pick a running back they probably could have had two rounds later, and the second slowest receiver at the combine. I heard they fell in love with Barron and R.J. Harvey. Sometimes love is blind, but time will tell. I just felt they needed proven stars right now for this offense. Am I way off base?

— Joe C., Aurora

Hey Joe, interesting questions. I feel pretty confident in saying UCF running back R.J. Harvey was not going to be available two rounds later when Denver took him No. 60 overall. He might not have even been there at No. 74, their next pick. The Athletic’s Mike Silver was embedded in the Jacksonville draft room, for example, and reported that the Jaguars were aiming for either Harvey or Louisville edge rusher Ashton Gillotte at No. 70. He also indicated head coach Liam Cohen was interested in even moving up from there to get Harvey, and that’s just one of 31 other teams that could have been interested. Shows you the risk of even trading back from No. 51 twice when there’s a player on the board you like.

As for Illinois receiver Pat Bryant, who ran 4.61 seconds in the 40 at the combine, yes, he went earlier than almost any draft analyst thought he would. Could they have waited until No. 101 (where they traded up to get LSU defensive lineman Sai’Vion Jones) or even No. 134 the next day? Maybe. One of the reasons the draft is such great fodder is because there is always a counterargument. If Bryant’s good, you could just be happy with the pick. But even if he’s good, you could always say, “Well, they could have gotten another player at No. 74 AND him later.” What if Jones were taken No. 74 and Bryant No. 101? Would that feel better?

It’s fair to point out that Bryant went earlier than expected and also fair to give it some time and see how it plays out.

Not the same situation but somewhat similar: In 2023, when the Broncos traded back into the third round to take cornerback Riley Moss, I broke down what the charts said about giving up a future third-round pick to move up 25 spots and take him. And I wrote at the time that Moss was going to have to be a pretty good player in order to justify that kind of acquisition cost.

Well, guess what? Turns out he’s pretty good! But it didn’t happen overnight, either. He dealt with the core muscle injury during camp his rookie year and was a special-teams-only player down the stretch. Then he broke out last year and is a core part of the group going forward. Nobody’s going to look back at that trade and second-guess it at this point.

Feels similar with Bryant. You can slice it any way you want, but the bottom line is the Broncos took him in a part of the draft where the expectation is that you get real production out of him. Maybe not Week 1, but before too long.

Hey Parker, how does our secondary look with Jahdae Barron on the team? Does he play opposite Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss moves to another spot? Does he play nickel? How does Ja’Quan McMillian fit?

— Mark, Arvada

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Good question, Mark.

With Barron, time will tell to some degree. Part of what attracted the Broncos to him is that he’s a plus player outside, in the slot, at safety and potentially even as a dime linebacker type. Payton said Thursday night that Denver doesn’t feel the need to “pigeonhole” him to one position. And it always is worth repeating: What you play in camp or Year 1 doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what you are long term. Remember: Pat Surtain II played in the slot when he first got to Denver in 2021.

It seems the most likely spot at the outset is to play Barron in the slot and as part of sub packages. Those guys play a ton of snaps and Barron would put a pretty good battle on Ja’Quan McMillian, I’d bet, for the starting nickel job. That’s a premium position itself in today’s NFL.

Long term, it’s an interesting question. McMillian’s a restricted free agent after this year, so the team has more control with him beyond 2025. But you could see a world in which the Broncos think either Barron or Moss is their long-term answer in the slot and the other plays outside opposite Surtain.

I understand fans and analysts rushing to try to figure out whether Barron is replacing Moss or McMillian, but let’s take a deep breath. It’s not even OTAs yet. There’s a long way to go before the season starts. Also, keep this in mind: Injuries happen. Denver’s been remarkably healthy the past two seasons, but there’s no way to guarantee that lasts. And even within that run of good health, both Surtain (one game) and Moss (three) missed games last year. As Paton said during the draft, “We saw what happens” when injuries hit that position.

The Broncos tried playing McMillian outside in base and inside in sub. They tried Levi Wallace. They eventually got good production out of Kris Abrams-Draine — a young player not to be forgotten in this conversation. But without really good corners, the preposterous set of quarterback talent in the AFC will roast you. Barron is another move to ensure that doesn’t happen to Denver.

Is it true that the Broncos were eyeing Emeka Egbuka with the No. 20 pick? And when he went off the board, it was the best player available?

— Rick, Denver

Hey Rick, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Broncos really liked Egbuka, but Paton and Payton all along said their offensive priorities were more focused on running back and tight end. That’s also what we heard around the league up until the final week, which is when disinformation campaigns rocket into full gear around the league.

You never fully know, right? But I thought it was interesting that all along through the spring, Paton and Payton talked about liking their receivers, about liking their positioning at No. 20 given what the board looked like, about needing a running back and to continue fortifying their defense.

Then all of a sudden draft week hits and they’re aggressively trying to trade up and they like the receivers in the first round and all of this other noise. It’s hard to categorically rule any of that out, but I’d just say it didn’t surprise me that, end of the day, they ended up picking at No. 20 and their next plan was to trade back for a running back.

Now, the tight end thing probably didn’t play out exactly the way they hoped, but you’re not often going to go through a draft and hit your top-of-the-board guys at every position you want to get.

They clearly didn’t think running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Omarion Hampton or tight end Mason Taylor, were the best use of the No. 20 pick. They also had to know how unlikely it was that any of them would be around by No. 51. That’s why a trade back always felt like a real possibility. Instead, they chose Barron over any of that.

The other thing I think — although I don’t categorically know — is that if they’d gone best available but Barron wasn’t there, it still would have been a defensive player rather than Egbuka or Hampton. Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon had some teams somewhat concerned on the medical front, but he went one pick later to Pittsburgh. Then, Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams went No. 28 to Detroit. Neither of those would have been a big shock at No. 20.

Any of our undrafted rookie free agents stand out to you? I’m hoping Johnny Walker Jr. lands with the team.

— Paul L., Denver

Hey Paul, thanks for writing in. Off the cuff, Walker and former Michigan running back Chris Evans (actually a minicamp invite, not technically a rookie free agent) are interesting and so are the offensive linemen, given that Denver didn’t draft any of those. Walker’s teammate at Missouri, defensive lineman Kristian Williams, was a good college player, too.

I’m always interested in seeing a day or two of rookie minicamp because normally there is a player or two that jump out that perhaps you’re not expecting. That doesn’t always mean they make the team or that we can pick out all of the promising guys in one afternoon of watching, but I remember in 2022, Brandon Johnson definitely made an impression. Then, in 2023, among the standouts were Jaleel McLaughlin and Alex Palczewski, who each ended up making the team, along with running back Jacques Patrick, who did not. Then last year, Devaughn Vele, who was not an undrafted guy but obviously unheralded as a seventh-round pick, was the big eye-catcher.

What surprised you the most about this year’s Broncos draft efforts?

— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.

Hey Ed, thanks for writing in as always. I’ve learned to try not to be surprised about what happens during the draft.

You can talk to as many people as possible and have good information and all of that and there are still twists and turns and surprises.

In general, I think I’m more surprised the Broncos traded back twice on Day 2 than I am that they stayed at No. 20 and went with the best player on their board — though nobody, present company included, had them pegged as taking a cornerback in the first round. Once they used their pick on Day 1, I thought Payton might get itchy to try to move up the board in the second round. But they’d have had to go a long way up for a running back or a tight end. The Ohio State backs were gone by No. 39, Taylor went at No. 42 and then two more tight ends came off quickly, too, in Terrence Ferguson at No. 46 and Elijah Arroyo at No. 50.

Once that happened, the trade-backs made sense. And they really do love Harvey.

So I guess the simplest way to say it is I came away surprised they didn’t end up taking one of the first four running backs OR first five tight ends in the draft. But hey, they took the sixth quarterback last year and that worked out pretty well. So, let’s see how it shakes out.

With Shedeur Sanders dropping so far in the draft, did the Broncos ever consider picking him up?

— Jimmy, Lakewood

Hey Jimmy, man, can you imagine? There would have been 500 reporters at rookie minicamp next weekend.

Payton made it clear on Friday night that he thinks Sanders will play in the league and that he was surprised by the fall. He’s also talked in the past about wanting to be a place that develops quarterbacks, even if your starter is in place.

If Nix were a couple more years into his career? Maybe. I don’t at all mean this as really anything to do with Sanders from a personality or persona standpoint, but I’d bet you there are few things Payton is more conscious of than the environment in his quarterback room. They’re high on quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, obviously, and they brought Jarrett Stidham back. It feels like they’re going for as much continuity around Nix as possible day to day. Maybe Sanders would have been a great add to the room, I’m just not surprised that the default is to rock the boat as little as possible.

Still, the prospect of taking Sanders on Day 3, developing him and allowing him to work behind the scenes for a while and then extracting excess value down the road had to at least be a little bit of a thought for a lot of teams that are set at quarterback, right?

In Denver, it would have been a great story and it would have gotten several metric tons of attention. Alas.

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