The Denver Broncos made their first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft on Friday, trading down from pick 62 to pick 66 and snagging Texas A&M defensive lineman Tyler Onyedim.

“It’s always hard to find defensive tackles,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said after making the pick. “His strike, his shed. But it was the athlete, make up. Those were the traits.”

It may not seem hard to find defensive tackles—a dozen or more solid options are still on the board—the tricky part is finding one who fits the Broncos’ mold. Denver doesn’t employ 330-pound space eaters. The Broncos defense led by coordinator Vance Joseph wants lineman who can shoot gaps and make plays in the backfield. They aren’t looking for cinder blocks who hold their ground; they want explosive playmakers.

Those are the linemen who are tough to find… which is why losing John Franklin-Myers in free agency stung, and why adding a prospect like Onyedim makes a lot of sense.

We’ll dig more into how exactly Onyedim fits into the defense—he isn’t a one-for-one replacement for Franklin-Myers—but let’s start by taking a look at the measurables, and compare them to Franklin-Myers for some context.

Franklin-Myers’ athletic testing was a tick better than Onyedim’s across the board. Onyedim is 10 pounds heavier, which explains some of that gap. Onyedim also has longer arms.

And that’s where we’re going to start.

I pulled clips primarily from two games. The first is the game against Texas, which may have been Onyedim’s most impressive performance of the season. The second is the College Football Playoff game against Miami, which displayed some of his weaknesses.

I patched things together with some clips from other games when there were better examples of his strengths and weaknesses.

Like this example of Onyedim using his length to disrupt a play…

(Onyedim wears No. 11.)

Why are long arms important for a defensive lineman? Because if your arms are longer than your opponents’ arms, you can touch him but he can’t touch you. The clip above is a perfect example.

Onyedim is at his best when he gets to use his length. His straight arm is awesome. If he gets his hand into an opponent’s chest, he almost always finds a way to win the play.

Watch him extend his right arm into the guard’s chest, which gives him control of the battle. He can easily cut off the runner and make the tackle with his free hand.

Length is important to making the straight arm work. The other key is upper-body strength, which Onyedim has plenty of. He’s massive in the shoulders and the chest, which allows him to rip opponents off of him.

The Broncos’ goal with Onyedim is to turn him into a dominant interior pass rusher. He has the correct combination of upper-body strength and quick feet to threaten quarterbacks.

This chop-swim move is his best pass-rush move at the moment…

Here’s another one…

Onyedim’s pass-rush arsenal is not fleshed out yet. The move above is his bread-and-butter, but he’s still working on counters.

But he’s flashed the ability to win in multiple ways.

That spin move was beautiful. The hit on Arch Manning was even better.

Onyedim only had 2.5 sacks last year. His 8.5 tackles for loss are a little more encouraging. The raw tools jump off the screen but the polish isn’t there yet.

The lack of polish shows up in a number of ways. One example is his shallow arsenal of pass-rushing moves. Another is a mild penchant for blown assignments.

On this play, Onyedim redirects his rush inside, vacating his rush lane. Despite the rest of the rushers creating havoc, Onyedim allows an escape lane.

This is the type of play that would keep Onyedim off the field in Denver. The Broncos’ rush plan on each play is impeccable. Everybody stays in their lane. They work off of each other to create space. Zach Allen won’t let this type of mistake stand.

That’s part of what makes the NFL a different game than college football. Onyedim is able to beat SEC blockers off of a raw talent advantage. That’s what makes him such a valuable prospect. But in the NFL, you have to win the right way.

Here’s an example.

Every defender is responsible for a gap on this play. His job is to not let the running back through that gap. That simple. Onyedim’s job is to win the gap between the center and the right guard.

But instead he goes all the way around the center and circles back. It works. He’s athletic enough to slide through a different gap and still cut back to make the play.

In the NFL, this won’t slide.

And it occasionally caught up to him in college, too.

This the key moment, when Onyedim sheds to the right, which allows him to defend a gap that is already being defended by No. 4. Onyedim’s gap is left open and Texas gets a big play out of it.

You can’t watch this without being impressed by the talent. He achieved what he tried to do. But he should have been trying to go the other way.

A talented defensive lineman can find his advantage over his opponent and cash in on it.

An NFL defensive lineman can find that advantage and figure out how to exploit it in a way that allows him to win in the gap he’s supposed to be working in.

All of this is very coachable. The problem is primarily discipline. It’s similar to a running back who has a tendency to bounce runs outside when grinding out four yards up the middle is the prudent play.

And Onyedim is much less likely to take these chances when he’s the low man on the totem poll in the NFL instead of being the star.

Another crucial part of this story is Onyedim’s path through college. He finished his career at Texas A&M, where he played in an attacking, one-gap front similar to what the Broncos run. But he played four out of five seasons at Iowa State in a unique 3-3-5 defense, where defensive linemen are responsible for two gaps instead of one. The gap integrity troubles we talked about above wouldn’t apply in the same way at Iowa State.

If Onyedim had played all five years at Texas A&M, he probably wouldn’t let his creativity get the best of him as often in 2025.

The other concern with Onyedim is his anchor. What happens when he lines up across from a 6-foot-6, 334-pounder like Anez Cooper, who will hear his name called early on Day 3 of this year’s draft?

(Cooper is No. 73.)

All of a sudden, the length is neutralized.

Onyedim was a far better athlete than most of his competition in college. In the NFL, that will change. Every snap he will be battling with somebody who can neutralize one of his advantages. Maybe he can match Onyedim’s arm length. Maybe his feet are just as quick. Maybe he’s got 20 pounds on him.

Onyedim is a good athlete with good size. He isn’t a great athlete with great size, and that could be what eventually sets his ceiling.

But when you watch the flashes, you could squint and see some Chris Jones in him.

Onyedim’s immediate role is still to be determined. Before he became a Broncos, Denver’s plan looked something like this…

1. Zach Allen – superstar (plays ∼85% of snaps)
2. DJ Jones – run game specialist (∼45% of snaps)
3. Malcolm Roach – do-it-all guy who can patch any piece of the rotation (∼45% of snaps)
4. Eyioma Uwazurike – run defender first… with sneaky pass rush upside (∼35% of snaps)
5. Sai’vion Jones – pass rusher first (∼30% of snaps)
6. Jordan Jackson – first off the bench in case of injury (0% of snaps)

The Broncos will dress five defensive linemen on game days. Before Onyedim can take one of those spots, he’ll have to first beat out Jackson for the injury insurance role. Jackson has been a steady presence for the past few years in Denver. While Onyedim’s roster spot is guaranteed, surpassing Jackson in the race to play on game day will take a very solid training camp at least.

Onyedim figures to provide more as a pass-rusher than as a run defender, but it’s worth noting that he was more explosive in the run game last year. Still, Sai’vion Jones is probably more likely to snag Sai’vion Jones’ uniform than Uwazurike’s.

Jones vs. Onyedim could be one of the Broncos’ most notable camp battles in August.

If we’re taking a wider view, Uwazurike’s contract is up at the end of the year. The safe bet is probably on him walking, which would immediately bump Jones and Onyedim up in the rotation. D.J. Jones’ contract is up a year later. That’s when a starting job will be up for grabs.