Oddsmakers Reveal Broncos' Most Likely First-Round Position

Draft day is officially finally here.

In what is perhaps a sports weekend even less productive than the Monday following the Super Bowl, every NFL team has a chance to come out a winner this weekend and each fanbase has a chance to walk away with the warms and fuzzies with the promise that every first-round pick their team landed will be a World Champion and every Day-3 pick is a diamond in the rough their team identified and saw more talent in than all the other inadequate franchises across the league.

Hope springs eternal on draft weekend because anyone can strike gold and change the course of their franchise forever.

Will the Denver Broncos find a superstar this weekend? In what many consider to be a lesser year at the top of the draft, the Broncos, currently sitting at pick 20, are unlikely to land a player with a true round-one grade, but there is a position that is overall devalued by the league that the team may walk away with a player they have graded extremely high at their most obvious remaining roster hole at running back.

Will the Broncos go against conventional positional-value wisdom and wind up with a running back with their first pick? Whether with a trade up for superstar Ashton Jeanty, staying at 20 (or a slight move up or down) to take Omarion Hampton, or TreVeyon Henderson?

Could Denver move down rather substantially from 20 and instead shift focus to Quinshon Judkins, Dylan Sampson, or Kaleb Johnson with their first pick? According to DraftKings Sportsbook , the Broncos drafting a running back with their first overall selection have the heavy betting odds at -150.

Most prognosticators have been mocking running back to Denver at 20 or even in trades around from the pick, and the Broncos’ decision makers — head coach Sean Payton and GM George Paton — have also flat out stated they'll add a running back (or two) in the draft. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the first pick, but that’s what the books believe in Vegas.

If not running back, which other directions does DraftKings believe the best odds are for the Broncos? With +350 odds, wide receiver comes in second.

Could Tetairoa McMillan slide to Denver? Would the team take Emeka Egbuka, Luther Burden III, or Matthew Golden? Broncos’ insiders keep insisting the Broncos aren’t likely to go wide receiver until later, but will that come to fruition this weekend?

After receiver, the odds over at DraftKings shift to defensive lineman/edge rusher at +600. The Broncos don’t have an obvious need at edge, but there is no such thing as too much pass rush talent.

The Broncos are also in position to make an early investment on the interior defensive line with turnover among the group on the horizon next offseason. Will Mason Graham slide and entice Denver to move up? Would Kenneth Grant, Walter Nolen, or Derrick Harmon be too good to pass up for Denver at 20? After all, we all saw what the Philadelphia Eagles' waves and depth on the defensive line did to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl this year.

A fluctuating position for the Broncos, according to oddsmakers, is tight end. After signing Evan Engram, many books had tight end move down the list of probability. However, the drum for Denver has been beating for Colston Loveland should he slide (with some faint drumming for Mason Taylor as well). DraftKings has tight end at +800.

Further down the list of probabilities for DraftKings is offensive line (+950), cornerback (+1300), safety (+2500), linebacker (+2800), and laughably long odds for a specialist and quarterback at +25000. Not going to happen.

Right now, it feels like it would be a surprise if the Broncos didn’t use their first pick on a running back. On the defensive line, Nolen is rocketing up boards, Harmon has a medical red flag, according to some insiders, and Grant might not have the overall athleticism to warrant the 20th pick for a nose. Still, combining edge and interior together and given the value of the defensive line and the long odds, that might not be a horrible bet.

The real viable longshot is possibly linebacker. With Alex Singleton and Dre Greenlaw missing nearly the entirety of the 2024 season with injury and former entering the last year of his contract, would it be all that crazy to see Jihaad Campbell be the highest ranked player for Denver? Or Carson Schwesinger in a trade down?

The books say running back for the Broncos with their first pick, but no one but the staff has any real idea who the team covets and may want when they're finally on the clock.