Broncos Poised to Join Pantheon of 'Elite Contenders,' Analyst Claims

The vibe during the Denver Broncos' mandatory minicamp felt different. The 2025 Broncos are poised to broaden their horizons. 

Broncos head coach Sean Payton has given off the air of a man who knows his team will respond instantly when he pushes his foot down on the gas pedal. The extent to which the Broncos feel they're now ready to enter elite company is becoming an open secret, at least in local circles, but some folks in the national media are a bit slower on the uptake. 

NFL.com's Jeffri Chadiha isn't among them. Per Chadiha, the Broncos are prepared to leapfrog the AFC pretenders this season, like the Los Angeles Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Houston Texans, and join the elite echelon of contenders. 

"The Broncos make the most sense right now, with the Chargers not far behind them. The one thing that separates Denver from other teams in this category -- along with Los Angeles, Houston and Cincinnati are the most sensible picks -- is defense. The Broncos have one of the best units in the league and they remain flush with talent after leading the NFL in sacks and ranking third in points allowed last season," Chadiha wrote. "Denver has arguably the best edge-rushing duo in the league in Nik Bonitto and Jonathan Cooper. It has a disruptive interior presence in Zach Allen and the NFL's best cornerback tandem in Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II and Riley Moss. If the new players added this offseason -- linebacker Dre Greenlaw, safety Talanoa Hufanga and cornerback Jahdae Barron, the team's first-round pick -- live up to the hype, this will be the best defense in the league."

Chadiha's observations about the Broncos defense are particularly astute. The unit is poised to climb to even greater heights in 2025.

Adding veteran All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga and proven inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw from the San Francisco 49ers carries some significant risk due to their respective injury histories, but boy, can both guys pop. 

Transplanting their Super Bowl experience into Vance Joseph's unit could be manna from football heaven for the Broncos' defensive coordinator. The arrival of Hufanga and Greenlaw could push the likes of Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, and Zach Allen to a new level. 

The Broncos' decision to draft polished and versatile Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron came as somewhat of a curveball, especially when selecting a running back seemed the more pressing concern. Even so, augmenting the power coverage duo of Surtain and Moss with another unique defensive weapon bore all the hallmarks of a team looking to truly dominate on that side of the ball. 

After all, 'defense wins championships' became a statement that came back into vogue after what Vic Fangio and the Philadelphia Eagles did to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, but so did running the ball. 

So while Chadiha has identified how second-year quarterback Bo Nix holds the key to what the Broncos can do on offense, furnishing him with a dynamic running game is a major but essential bonus. Second-round rookie RJ Harvey has been joined by the shifty former Charger J.K. Dobbins in the backfield, which figures to open up Sean Payton's playbook even further. 

"The offense should also be better this season now that quarterback Bo Nix has a second year in head coach Sean Payton's offense, and there are more weapons in the mix (including running backs R.J. Harvey and J.K. Dobbins and tight end Evan Engram)," Chadiha wrote. "Yes, the Broncos are betting on a lot of dudes with long injury histories staying healthy. It's also worth pondering where this team could go if that actually happens."

As the Broncos move on to a pivotal training camp, Payton's brief will be to mold this group into a well-oiled machine that is well aware of its collective responsibilities. Nix opens so many doors; his cerebral presence allows Payton to unleash the full extent of his creative thinking.

Ironically enough, deciding whether the 'joker' is going to be tight end Evan Engram or Harvey will become Payton's biggest headache; such is the abundance of talent on the Broncos' roster.