Which Denver Broncos Draft Picks Will Have the Greatest Rookie Impact?

The 2025 NFL Draft is now in the books, and now we can spend the rest of the offseason obsessing over how the puzzle pieces will come together to form this season's Denver Broncos roster.

As those elements fall into place, which rookies are best-positioned for a breakout campaign during their first season in the league, and which are projected to be role players?

Uphill Climb To Make the Roster

7. Caleb Lohner

Although he's a wildly intriguing upside gamble, Caleb Lohner is a recently converted basketball player who had not played organized football since the seventh grade before the Utah Utes recruited him last offseason.

In extremely limited usage, Lohner was a redzone terror, with an outstanding catch radius and a natural understanding of how to high-point the football or use his size to box out opposing defenders from interfering with the reception.

While the upside is tantalizing, he has played just 57 total snaps of football in his entire high school and college career. The Broncos probably don't want a player on their 53-man roster who isn't ready to play, but they also clearly want to attempt to develop Lohner into an NFL tight end, so the practice squad could be the best route.

Rotational Piece and Special Teams Presence

6. Sai'vion Jones

Although he projects to have a large role in 2026, as John Franklin-Myers' eventual replacement, Sai'vion Jones will probably have a limited presence in 2025, as he adjusts to the NFL game.

Jones has remarkable tools for a mid-round selection upfront, with 34-inch arms, heavy hands, and an impressive build, but he hasn't fit all those pieces together. At times, he explodes off the line and creates proper leverage, but he's too inconsistent in both facets, greatly diminishing his impact.

While he develops those skills, he'll be towards the bottom of the defensive line rotation, though he should still make an impact this season.

In 2024, Denver asked Zach Allen to play more snaps per game than any other defensive lineman in the league, and the second-most overall. The coaching staff shouldn't put that amount of wear and tear on Allen again, so they'd be wise to spread the work out more evenly.

5. Que Robinson

Potentially the first real surprise of this list, Que Robinson lands in front of Sai'Vion Jones, despite being a later selection in a deeper position group.

While both are developmental prospects for Denver's defensive front, and Jones has the clearer path to meaningful snaps on defense, Robinson should hit the ground running as a high-impact player on special teams.

Legendary coach Nick Saban described Robinson as “One of our better special teams players probably ever [at Alabama].”

If Robinson can come close to living up to that billing, he could help replace the special-teams void the Broncos have to address. Denver has already lost Tremon Smith, who led the team in special-teams snaps a year ago, and they could lose two more to roster churn this summer.

4. Pat Bryant

The Broncos' wide receiver room is crowded with young bodies, with four of their top five options on rookie deals. Yet still, Pat Bryant should crack the rotation for meaningful playing time.

Lil' Jordan Humphrey had 554 offensive snaps in 2024 and continued to play 20-40 snaps per game, even after Devaughn Vele emerged as a major contributor, and Bryant should be an upgrade on what Humphrey offered, with more redzone dynamism. Plus, Sean Payton loves using larger blocking receivers, and Bryant fits the bill.

Payton also seems particularly infatuated with Bryant, comparing him to Michael Thomas and spending the 74th pick to land him -- the fifth-earliest slot he's ever drafted a receiver at over his head-coaching career.

Bryant only played 32 special teams snaps during his collegiate career, and he'll to find a role on special teams quickly to maximize his rookie impact. Fortunately, his immense love for blocking and physicality suggests he should be able to adopt that responsibility without much difficulty.

Primary Option at Their Position

3. Jeremy Crawshaw

It wasn't the flashiest selection, but the Denver Broncos needed a punter, and Jeremy Crawshaw was the best prospect in the draft.

He won't make much of an impact outside his punting ability, but Denver's special teams was a meaningful factor in their surprise playoff run last season. Maintaining the field-position advantage they enjoyed in 2024 will be important, especially with Denver's opportunistic defense.

2. R.J. Harvey

With minimal competition for the lead role in the Denver Broncos' backfield, R.J. Harvey has a relatively clear path to a starting role and a majority of the team's running back touches.

The only semi-proven back on the roster is Jaleel McLaughlin, and his skillset is so duplicative of Harvey's that it makes him a poor choice for a complementary pairing. That means Audric Estime and Tyler Badie, and maybe one veteran back the Broncos sign to round out the room, will be the players eating into Harvey's workload. None of those options poses much threat to Harvey and the dynamism he can offer the offense.

In 2024, Harvey led college football in explosive run rate (with an 'explosive' run defined as a carry of 10 or more yards) and generated the second-most explosive runs in total, trailing only Ashton Jeanty. He generated 69 missed tackles, only four fewer than Hampton, with a lesser workload. That big-play ability and knack for creating extra yards for the offense is exactly what Denver's offense has been lacking, with the running back spot being especially low-wattage.

Making it even harder to take him off the field is the fact that he's a promising receiving threat. Although he didn't see a ton of usage as a pass catcher while at UCF, Harvey flashes crisp route-running, pillow-soft hands, and can smoothly translate from receiver to ball-carrier.

1. Jahdae Barron

Taking the crown for largest projected rookie year impact is, unsurprisingly, Jahdae Barron.

Viewed by the Broncos' front office as a top-10 talent, Barron should immediately make his presence felt on Denver's loaded defense. The former Longhorn has a sky-high football IQ, outstanding toughness and physicality for his position, excellent coverage talent, and impressive ball skills.

Barron claims the top spot despite having to compete with Riley Moss and Ja'Quan McMillian for playing time, because it's hard to imagine him coming off the field when healthy.

When the defense is in a nickel package, he's a clean projection as the team's nickel cornerback and should upgrade on what McMillian offered, though that says more about Barron than it does the veteran.

In base defensive looks, Barron could take over Moss's spot, as he showed the skills to be a quality boundary corner during his final season at Texas. He could also play at safety, allowing the team to drop Talanoa Hufanga into the box, which the 49ers often did to great success.

Ultimately, with Barron's remarkable intelligence, versatility to thrive at so many defensive positions, and high-end talent, it's hard to imagine any other Broncos rookie having a larger impact.