Broncos Roundtable: Grading Denver's 2024 rookie draft class led by Bo Nix

Seven up, seven down.

The Denver Broncos‘ have their 2024 NFL Draft class.

Led by quarterback Bo Nix, Sean Payton and George Paton added five offensive players and two defensive players to the squad during April’s draft.

How did the Broncos’ brass do during Payton and Paton’s second draft together? Did they knock it out of the park or leave something to be desired?

The DNVR Broncos Crew dishes out grades for Denver’s draft.

What grade would you give the Broncos’ draft class?

Zac: A+ — Sean Payton got his quarterback. It’s as simple as that.

The cherry on top was the Broncos didn’t have to give up additional first-round picks, meaning if Bo Nix doesn’t pan out, Denver still has future first-round picks to go and take another shot at a quarterback in 2025 or 2026.

But I think Nix will pan out for numerous reasons, most notably he fits exactly what Payton looks for in a quarterback and profiles similar to Drew Brees. Additionally, I was incredibly impressed with Nix during the Broncos’ OTAs and mandatory minicamp, where the rookie looked like a seasoned veteran on the field.

The cherry on top of the cherry was landing Bo Nix’s favorite receiver in college by drafting Troy Franklin in the fourth round. Drafting the playmaking receiver was a grand slam as he gives Nix a comfortable target, he brings explosiveness to Denver’s offense and they got him on Day 3, when many thought he was a Day 2 pick.

Bravo, Sean Payton and George Paton.

Henry: A — The longterm grade, obviously, depends on Bo Nix.

If Bo Nix is great, the draft was an A+. If he busts, then the draft is an F. Maybe there’s a little wiggle room but not much.

The Broncos checked the boxes. They drafted a quarterback. Most of their picks were projected to be off the board earlier than when the Broncos picked them. If you’re looking at who they got compared to who we thought they would be able to get before the draft started, you’d call this win.

So, on paper, this is an A. But football isn’t played on paper. This will be known as the “Bo Nix Draft,” and whether or not he pans out will determine the grade.

RK: B

Look, the success or failure of this draft class rides solely on the shoulders of Bo Nix. And as much as I want to believe Nix is the perfect fit with Sean Payton, it would be dishonest to ignore their fact that Nix was the sixth quarterback off the board with the 12th overall pick. With no evidence yet to suggest the Broncos outsmarted the rest of the league, it’s hard to give a high mark on that pick just yet.

On the other hand, I absolutely love Denver picking Tory Franklin to give Bo a familiar face in the huddle at wide receiver and I was a big fan of Auric Estime’s game coming out.

In the end, I love that the Broncos were willing to take a risk and finally start from scratch with a new QB, but I would be lying to say I’m not worried that they did it out of desperation. I’m giving an optimistic grade on this class without getting my expectations out of whack.