Broncos Raise Eyebrows With ‘Heavy’ Interest in Record-Setting Difference Maker

The Denver Broncos have become synonymous with running backs this offseason, and the latest comments from former Boise State star Ashton Jeanty are sure to fuel speculation with the 2025 draft fast approaching.

After an aggressive offseason, the Broncos’ lone remaining “need” is running back, and Jeanty is regarded as the top in the class.

The 2024 Heisman Trophy runner-up, Jeanty, spoke on the Broncos’ eyebrow-raising interest.

“Now, I have just separate meetings. The Browns’ running back coach wants to talk to me. It’s all separate. Like who wants to? Seahawks. But at the actual draft, I talked to 20 different teams – at the combine, excuse me,” Jeanty said on the “Draft House” podcast on April 14. “Really, the Denver Broncos they was heavy on me.”

The Broncos have four backs – Audric Estime, Blake Watson, Jaleel McLaughlin, and Tyler Badie – under contract already.

As their interest in the rookie class suggests, though, they lack a complete, three-down option.

Ashton Jeanty Compared to Alvin Kamara, LaDanian Tomlinson

ESPN’s Matt Miller ranked Jeanty as the No. 3 overall prospect in the draft behind only Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter on his latest big board. Miller compared Jeanty to New Orleans Saints star Alvin Kamara, whom Broncos head coach Sean Payton drafted No. 67 overall in 2017.

Payton has commended Kamara’s versatility when speaking about the “Joker” role in his previous offenses. Jeanty set a Boise State rushing yards record in 2024.

“Jeanty was the nation’s leader in rushing yards (2,601) and had 29 touchdowns on the ground. He doesn’t have great size, but he’s a forward-leaning runner with breakaway speed and great agility to make defenders miss. His contact balance, poise and how well he runs through contact are truly special traits. Jeanty is not as involved as you’d like him to be in the passing game (23 catches in 2024), but his role there could be expanded in the pros,” Miller wrote on April 14.

“He looks like the rare Round 1 running back and a Day 1 starter.”

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler ranked Jeanty the same as Miller, offering another noteworthy comparison: Hall of Famer LaDanian Tomlinson.

“With his low center of gravity and explosiveness, Jeanty has an uncanny ability to stay afloat through contact and be elusive in space (led FBS with 151 forced missed tackles in 2024 — 57 more than No. 2 on the list). He trusts his vision when following his blocks, but instead of predetermining his path, he displays outstanding reactionary reads to sort, cut and create,” Brugler wrote on April 9.

“Overall, Jeanty displays exceptional contact balance, run instincts and versatility in the passing game, reminiscent of LaDainian Tomlinson. He has the talent to emerge as a high-level running back early in his NFL career.”

Broncos’ Rival Talked to Ashton Jeanty ‘Most’ at Scouting Combine

If the Broncos are serious about drafting Jeanty, they may need to get ahead of the AFC West rival Las Vegas Raiders to do it. The Raiders hold the No. 6 overall pick in the draft and have also shown interest in Jeanty.

The Raiders, they was heavy. We was talking the most,” Jeanty said. “Even while all the running backs were doing drills. Because I wasn’t competing, they was talking to me the whole time,” Jeanty said. “I’m supposed to get on the phone with like a bunch of different running back coaches, but I mean it’s a lot of teams.”

Payton has shown a proclivity to trade up before. He traded first and second-round picks to the New England Patriots to draft Mark Ingram in 2011.

However, as The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider noted, moving up for Jeanty would be expensive.

“Vaulting higher than that would likely be too cost-prohibitive for the Broncos,” Kosmider wrote on April 14. “As highly touted as the Heisman Trophy runner-up is, he still plays a fungible position — one that features many other options, if far more imperfect ones, throughout the draft.”