Denver Broncos Team Preview 25-26

Last Updated on June 17, 2025 1:55 pm by André Lemos | Published: June 9, 2025

The Denver Broncos had a very promising 2024, and their fan base should be pretty happy with the trajectory of the franchise, with HC Sean Payton and QB Bo Nix leading the new era of Broncos football. Their stout defense that ranked seventh-best in the NFL in 2025 is a blessing and a curse for their fantasy ceiling, often giving them many quick stops and short fields for more touchdown scoring opportunities, but also preventing them from getting many nuclear game scripts on their schedule. As for their departures from the 2024 roster, the only major one was the farewell wished for running back Javonte Williams, who has a shot at leading the backfield in Dallas in 2025. As for the additions to the team in the off-season, among the most notable was rookie running back RJ Harvey, selected in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft, who projects to be the team’s starter in his debut NFL season. Second-year RB Audric Estime and resident Broncos ball-carrier Jaleel McLaughlin will rotate in behind Harvey on the depth chart. They also added veteran tight end Evan Engram to play the team’s Joker in Sean Payton’s offense. He’s easily the most dynamic pass-catcher the Broncos have seen playing tight end since Julius Thomas was catching passes from Peyton Manning, and I’m excited to see Bo Nix with another weapon at his disposal. Speaking of, the Broncos also spent a third round pick on WR Pat Bryant to add to their receiving corps. They join alpha target Courtland Sutton and soon-to-be second-year WRs Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin and Devaughn Vele. Bryant is a talented enough receiver to climb the depth chart in a hurry, and could easily find himself as the WR3 behind Sutton and Mims on opening day.

Player most likely to beat ADP: Audric estime (ADP 213, RB71)

Obviously, RJ Harvey is a great bet to find fantasy success in his rookie season after netting the golden ticket of RB landing spots with Denver. There is a clear vacuum of talent in the backfield for the Broncos, and Harvey should be the unquestioned starting RB as it stands, which is something few rookie running backs get to claim. Still, second-year RB Audric Estime has a great chance to seize the backup role and see some rotational usage behind Harvey, with contingent upside should the rookie underwhelm or miss time for any reason. He currently costs virtually nothing in best ball drafts, often going undrafted.

Player most likely to fade based on ADP: Evan Engram (adp 111, Te10)

While I do love the prospect of the Broncos getting their joker in Evan Engram, I’m having a hard time drafting him due to the nature of his value and profile. There are a ton of great tight ends emerging in the NFL, and Engram is kind of in the dead zone for fantasy tight ends. He’s likely not going to sniff the elite tier of the position, and there are a ton of much cheaper, younger options at the position who offer a similar or greater level of upside. I’m by no means out on Engram, and I have my fair share of shares in my best ball portfolio, it just feels like an inefficient click more often than not. Engram hasn’t had more than four touchdowns in a season since scoring six in his rookie season with the Giants back in 2017.

Late-round Flier that could blow up: Pat bryant (ADp 206, wr85)

2025 third round draft selection Pat Bryant was just shy of making my top-10 rookie WRs when covering the pre-draft process last month, and I love the idea of him potentially lining up opposite of Courtland Sutton in this offense. He has the highest draft capital among the young Broncos receivers, and coach Payton has gushed over Bryant, comparing him to Michael Thomas from his peak days in New Orleans. He’s basically free in best ball and has the chance to be the WR2 in an ascending young offense with a talented QB and coaching staff.

Writer’s Season Win Prediction: 11-6

The Broncos have a lot of good going for them, in that they are a young, ascending offense with a great coaching staff that made the playoffs with a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix, who led the team to a 10-7 record his rookie season. One of the biggest reasons for the success that Denver had in 2024 was their quick and vast improvements made to the offensive line. In 2023, the Broncos allowed the QB to be sacked at the sixth-highest rate in the NFL last season per drop back. Fast-forward to last season, and the Broncos all of a sudden allowed the second-lowest sack rate percentage in the entire NFL and found themselves stacking up among the best trench units in the league. Still, Bo Nix tied for the 11th-highest average time to throw in the league. Beyond the offensive line, they have a deep receiving room, and Courtland Sutton has proven himself to be a valuable top target in this offense, though the soon-to-be eight-year veteran will turn 30 in the first half of the season. They have a bunch of young talent making up their receiving corps, and hopefully they can develop them enough to be the foundation of Bo Nix’s future weaponry.

The glaring weakness in recent years for Denver has been the lack of skill position talent beyond Courtland Sutton, but thankfully the Broncos have added some talented young pieces and veteran TE Evan Engram to help contribute. The depth on this team could be cause for concern at a handful of positions. The roster’s youth can be a weakness as much as it is a strength for the team. Denver has a ton of young targets on the roster, and are banking on steady contribution from a receiving room that has a combined three years of NFL experience between the projected WR2 through WR5 on the Broncos’ depth chart. While we mentioned the offensive line being a forceful bunch, the team didn’t add any pieces to their offensive line via the draft or free agency, so the depth up front could come into the question if any of Denver’s OL stars miss time for any reason. Out of the backfield, there’s no one on the team that has seen a significant volume of touches at the NFL level, but hopefully Harvey can bear that load in his debut season. Perhaps, the Broncos could be in play for one of the better veteran running backs still looking for a home for the 2025 season, like J.K. Dobbins or Nick Chubb.

For the Broncos, the key focus for this season is whether Bo Nix can continue to play at a high level, and it’s a bit layered because I believe Nix’s ceiling will remain inflated as long as his offensive line continues to play like one of the best in the league. They also need more pass-catching help this season, but that should be on the way in the form of their off-season additions and hopefully some promising development from their trio of rookie wideouts. Nix also flashed some rushing upside that could give him access to the elite tier of quarterbacks with the likes of Jalen Hurts and Jayden Daniels. I’ve been high on Nix since the pre-draft process last season, but I didn’t imagine he would have the most meteoric rookie season of the 2024 draft class. If he really can make that jump, you want to be ahead of it, and this might be the last chance to get him at a value.

Titans Strength of Schedule Rank: 8th

Fantasy Playoff : 49ers, Chiefs, Saints

Opposition	Opposition	Home/Away
Week 1	Titans	Home	Sun. 4:05pm
Week 2	Colts	Away	Sun. 4:05pm
Week 3	Chargers	Away	Sun. 4:05pm
Week 4	Bengals	Home	Mon. 8:15pm
Week 5	Eagles	Away	Sun 1:00pm
Week 6	Jets	Home	Sun. 9:30pm
Week 7	Giants	Home	Sun. 4:05pm
Week 8	Cowboys	Home	Sun. 4:05pm
Week 9	Texans	Away	Sun. 1:00pm
Week 10	Raiders	Home	Thurs. 8:10pm
Week 11	Chiefs	Home	Sun. 1:00pm
Week 12	Bye
Week 13	Commanders	Away	Sun. 8:20pm
Week 14	Raiders	Away	Sun. 4:05pm
Week 15	Packers	Home	Sun. 4:25pm
Week 16	Jags	Home	Sun. 4:08pm
Week 17	Chiefs	Away	Thurs. 8:15pm
Week 18	Chargers	Home	TBD