The ramp up to the 2025 NFL season is well underway for the Denver Broncos as the first week of OTAs has come to a conclusion, and with it one of the first looks at Denver’s new roster for the upcoming season. With talented rookies on the way like Jahdae Barron and RJ Harvey, new faces from free agency like Evan Engram and Talanoa Hufanga, and old friends like Courtland Sutton and Garrett Bolles, the Broncos have the potential to make some real noise in 2025.
General manager George Paton and the rest of the Broncos front office saw that the team didn’t have enough playmakers to keep up with the Buffalo Bills and other top NFL teams in the playoffs, and with the available cap space they had (Denver still has a $32 million dead cap hit for the Russell Wilson debacle this year), went out and put as many assets around Bo Nix and the rest of the team for this season.
Pro Football Focus (PFF) recently released its roster rankings for the 2025 season, and the Broncos got the respect they deserved, coming in at ninth. This is the second-best ranking in the AFC West, only behind the Kansas City Chiefs (No. 4), and the fifth-best ranking in the entire conference.
This ranking is a massive leap from 2024, as PFF ranked the Broncos roster as the second-worst in the league heading into the season, only ahead of the New York Giants. Denver quickly flipped that script, and one year later, has the attention of the league. The San Francisco 49ers were ranked No. 1 overall in that edition before injuries derailed their season.
PFF marked the defense as Denver’s biggest strength from 2024, as the unit led the NFL in sacks (63), ranked second in average allowed yards per carry (3.9) and was seventh in total yards allowed per game (317.1). While Nix and the offense were a great story throughout the season, the real driver of success was the tenacious defense with Vance Joseph leading the way on the sideline.
On the other side, the “offensive weaponry” was marked as Denver’s biggest weakness from 2024. While they got flashes from guys like Marvin Mims Jr. and Troy Franklin throughout the season, Denver didn’t have enough consistent production from their receiving core outside of Sutton, and got next-to-nothing from the rushing attack in multiple games. Engram and Harvey could add to that, but those are the only two notable names that Paton added to the roster to improve the unit.
Engram and Harvey were identified as the Broncos’ X-factor and rookie to watch for 2025, respectively.
For Denver’s projected starting lineup, cornerback Riley Moss had the worst PFF grade out of the 22 players listed, coming in at 58.6. He had some bright spots throughout the 2024 season, but those came with growing pains, as to be expected with any young cornerback trying to guard the talented wide receivers of the NFL. He ranked slightly above average compared to the rest of the league in run defense, and below average in pass defense.
Having a good roster is one thing, actually putting it together on the field is another. The Broncos did a great job of turning nothing into something in 2024 as they made it to the postseason for the first time since winning Super Bowl 50 with Peyton Manning at the helm. Now that they have a solid roster around their blossoming young quarterback, making a deeper run into the playoffs is of the utmost importance, not just a playoff berth will cut it anymore.