Which Broncos Rookie Will Have Greatest Impact on Denver's D?

With only seven selections and most of them coming late in the draft, the Denver Broncos didn’t make any major draft day splash, but they still managed to add several players with clear paths to making an impact on Denver’s championship push.

Which rookies will the team likely have to lean on to achieve its ultimate goal, and which are likely facing a redshirt season? Let’s take a look, first focusing on the Broncos’ defense.

Round 3, Pick 66: Tyler Onyedim, IDL, Texas A&M

After waiting longer than any other team to make their first selection in this year’s draft, Denver broke the fast with the selection of penetrating defensive lineman Tyler Onyedim, in an effort to help make up for the offseason departure of John Franklin-Myers.

Although the selection of Onyedim has a clear utility in mind, his impact will likely be somewhat muted in 2026, thanks to the situation he’s entering.

Franklin-Myers was a remarkable hybrid player on the defensive front, who could operate from myriad alignments and create pressure or blow-up run plays from all of them. Thankfully, the Broncos already boast Zach Allen, who can do much of the same at an even higher level, with D.J. Jones, Malcolm Roach and Eyioma Uwazurike all backing him up as demonstrably quality starters who also offer varying levels of versatility.

That goes without mentioning last year’s top-100 investment on the defensive front – Sai’Vion Jones – who flashed in his limited playing time and was drafted to eventually help replace Franklin-Myers. It’s easy to overlook Jones’ presence when forecasting Denver’s 2026 defensive line, but he might prove to be Onyedim’s biggest obstacle to playing time.

He’s already demonstrated some aptitude performing in Franklin-Myers’ role at the NFL level, which Onyedim can’t say, and Vance Joseph is notoriously reluctant to lean on rookies. Considering that, Joseph’s hesitancy with inexperienced players should be an especially large hurdle to securing playing time for Onyedim, not only because he’s a rookie, but also because our external view of Sai’vion Jones could be under-inflated, as he was saddled with that rookie tax last season.

Still, despite all those hurdles, Onyedim is still likely to see the field a healthy amount, as replacing JFM’s defensive presence can’t be a one-man job. The Broncos are gonna have to take a page out of Billy Beane’s playbook and look to replace Franklin-Myers in the aggregate. With Onyedim being a more instinctive and impactful run-defender – at least as a prospect – expect him to get some early-down snaps, while Jones focuses on replacing Franklin-Myers’ pass-rush snaps.

Projected Rookie Role: Rotational defensive lineman who combines with Sai’Vion Jones to replace the void left behind by John Franklin-Myers.

Round 7, Pick 246: Miles Scott, S, Illinois

Miles Scott’s journey to the Denver Broncos has been a fascinating one. After starting his collegiate career as a wide receiver, he transitioned to playing defensive back and earned both green-dot privileges and team-captain honors in short order.

That said, despite his impressive mental advancement for the position, he lacks typical athletic traits and can be an inconsistent striker when looking to tackle. He’s a physical presence who’s always looking for the home-run shot, but can wind up whiffing entirely.

Still, even with his late-round status, need for refinement and middling athletic gifts, Scott doesn’t have much standing between him and meaningful playing time, thanks to the departure of P.J. Locke.

Although the Broncos have a clear top-two in their safety room right now, with Talanoa Hufunga and Brandon Jones leading the way, the position is wide-open throughout the rest of the depth chart. That’s notable considering the ever-increasing importance of a team’s third safety, as defenses lean further and further into three-safety or ‘big nickel’ looks to counter the rise of multiple-TE sets.

Sure, Devon Key is the favorite to earn that third safety spot, but that has more to do with his remarkable special teams play and experience working as P.J. Locke’s understudy. It’s not exactly a product of some impressive defensive auditions.

In 2025, Key only played more than 7.0% of defensive snaps in Week 18, against the Chargers' backups, making it hard to draw any real conclusions from his performance. However, in 2024, when Key played 244 defensive snaps, he was a negative. With Key off the field, the 2024 Broncos defense allowed -0.125 EPA/play, which would make them the league’s best defense, by a wide margin. For perspective, the reigning champion Seahawks defense led the league by allowing just -0.113 EPA/play this past season. With Key on the field in 2024, the Broncos defense held offenses to -0.006 EPA/play, which would’ve made them the league’s 12th-best defense.

That’s a massive swing. The difference between the type of defense that can carry you to a Super Bowl, and a unit that’s simply above average.

So, even if Key is the favorite, it doesn’t seem like that’s an especially high bar to clear, and two other career special-teamers are the only other competition in the room for that coveted third safety spot.

Another reason to believe Scott at least has a chance to steal that role is that, during his collegiate career, he was occasionally deployed as the Illini’s Sam linebacker. The explosion of these ‘big nickel’ packages has been a response to offenses playing bigger and placing a greater emphasis on physicality and the run game. A bone-crushing safety, whose last defensive staff believed he could hold up at linebacker, seems like the perfect remedy.

Nonetheless, while it would be foolish to write Scott off entirely, odds are that he’ll solely be either a practice-squad or special-teams contributor for his rookie campaign, who only sees a serious number of defensive snaps if the position group is decimated by injury.

Projected Rookie Role: Potential to be the team’s third safety, or a special teams contributor who provides depth at the position, but will more likely be a practice squad project.

Round 7, Pick 257: Red Murdock, LB, Buffalo

The path for Red Murdock to find playing time is very similar to Miles Scott’s. He’s entering a position group with two clearly established starters (Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, in this case), but there’s no clear pecking order beyond those top two, while the league trends more and more towards playing three with regularity.

Fortunately for Murdock, it seems to be more realistic that he’s able to carve out a notable defensive role early on.

For starters, Murdock isn’t your typical ‘Mr. Irrelevant.’ He was widely considered a mid-round prospect, who fell in the draft because of injury concerns. His story isn’t too different from Jonathon Cooper, who landed in Denver after falling to the seventh round due to concerns about his heart, but has now solidified himself as a critical team leader.

Plus, the linebacker room has even less competition behind its starting tandem than the safety group. Right now, the favorite for that third linebacker job is likely Jonah Elliss, who is just now experimenting with the new position this offseason and hasn’t played off-ball linebacker since his freshman season with the Utes. Even then, George Paton's comments at OTAs suggest Elliss is more likely ‘moonlighting’ at linebacker, instead of immediately transitioning to that role full-time, so there should be room for another contributor. Beyond Elliss, the position group is made up of a cavalcade of recent UDFAs – Levelle Bailey, Karene Reid, and Jordan Turner.

Now, obviously, no one’s gonna roll over and just give Murdock the job, but it’s also safe to say Murdock’s linebacker resume is easily the most impressive of any of Denver’s depth pieces at the position. If his ankle holds up well throughout the summer, and he’s able to earn Vance Joseph’s trust, he could even cement a sizable defensive role before the Broncos’ more highly drafted rookies.

Projected Rookie Role: Primary backup linebacker behind Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad. He’ll also likely contribute on special teams.