Broncos offseason takeaways: Bo Nix's bigger voice, running back battle to come

New York Times

18 hours ago

On Thursday, the Denver Broncos wrapped up an offseason program that featured two weeks of OTA practices and a three-day mandatory minicamp. Food trucks and a shaved ice vendor rolled into the practice facility as a brief practice wrapped up, signaling the start of a roughly six-week summer break before players return for training camp in late July.
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Head coach Sean Payton was adamant during the offseason, particularly during this week's minicamp, that it was far too early to conclude what the roster will look like when Denver opens its season at home on Sept. 7 against the Tennessee Titans. The Broncos intentionally spent five weeks in Phase I of their program, limiting their activities to conditioning and weightlifting. That left them, by design, with a shortened installation period since there were only two weeks of OTAs this season instead of three.
'We'll have plenty of time for football,' Payton said Thursday. 'There's a reason we spend five weeks and we don't even go near (a football). I don't want them pulling into the parking lot in April thinking they're coming to football practice. I want them coming here knowing that they're going to get a good workout in, good lift in. So, that would be the most important thing.'
Still, the five offseason practices open to the media across the past three weeks, and the interviews with players and coaches that followed, generated insight into where the Broncos stand as they take the next step toward a 2025 season that will arrive with significant expectations. Here are the biggest takeaways:
During his first NFL offseason, quarterback Bo Nix was trying to find his way in a three-man quarterback competition. He kept his head down, burying it in a comprehensive playbook. Before he could project his voice as a leader, Nix said as his rookie year began, he first had to prove he could digest all the responsibilities being thrown his way.
That meant fewer scenes like the ones featuring a more animated Nix that reoccurred frequently during practices over the past month. Wednesday, for example, Nix pulled down the ball and ran after being unable to find his target during a play in team drills, sprinting into the secondary. Safety Brandon Jones was among the defensive backs who barked at Nix, essentially telling the quarterback the play would have been snuffed out in a live situation. Nix bickered right back as he returned to the sideline. Similar exchanges popped up consistently as Nix jawed with players on Denver's defense. The fiery side of the quarterback popped up at times during his rookie season, such as when he got into an animated debate with Payton on the sideline or went viral for his big-eyed staredown of a Las Vegas Raiders linebacker.
Seeing Nix access that competitive side during practice, Jones said, brings out the best in teammates on both sides of the ball.
'I love that. I never wanted to be somewhere where a quarterback is kind of shy or to himself,' said Jones, who joined the Broncos as a free agent last offseason, one month before Denver drafted Nix in the first round. 'I think if a quarterback can show that dog mentality, that goes a long ways for me, and it keeps us battling. It keeps the competition super healthy and very competitive.'
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The trash-talking is also a reflection of Nix's increased comfort overall in not only his responsibilities as the team's leader but also his grasp of the concepts within Denver's offense. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said Nix voiced an awareness of his increased comfort in the role during a sequence in Wednesday's practice.
'He had a completion on a play-action concept (in practice) that, last year, he probably wasn't real comfortable with the footwork,' Lombardi said. 'He came back and said, 'Man, it's so great that I don't have to think about the footwork.' You can just feel the comfort level. He's not thinking as much when you give him the play. He can get in and out of the huddle with a lot more comfort. He doesn't have to think as much. He can just kind of play free and natural, and you can certainly sense that out here.'
Nix will organize a retreat featuring player-led workout sessions among the team's quarterbacks and pass catchers this offseason. He is eager to hit training camp ready to go toe-to-toe with a defense angling to be one of the NFL's best this season. If the offseason program was any indication, those battles will have a boisterous soundtrack.
The padless practices of May and June have a way of showcasing the game's skill-position players and those tasked with defending them. It is difficult to gauge how well a tight end is executing his chip blocks or whether a running back is producing enough force to break through would-be tackles during helmet-and-shorts workouts.
Even with that caveat firmly established, second-year wide receiver Troy Franklin stood out in a major way the past three weeks. The 22-year-old speedster was last seen hauling in a 43-yard touchdown to kick-start Denver's playoff game against the Buffalo Bills — the only touchdown the Broncos scored in a 31-7 loss — but Franklin had an up-and-down journey to that highlight. Franklin routinely created separation, much like he did while playing with Nix for two seasons at Oregon, but he struggled to finish plays. His explosive-play ability after the catch was hampered at times by indecisiveness in the open field. Those issues were evident even before pads came on last year.
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That was all markedly different this offseason. Payton has talked routinely about wanting to put Franklin in positions where the offense can benefit from his ability to make gains after the catch, and the receiver was notably fluid in that regard during practices over the past month. The catch and dynamic next step often looked like one motion instead of a series of separate moves and decisions. It has all made Franklin look, well, faster.
Back at it 😤#BroncosOTAs pic.twitter.com/o4uurmnE2L
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) May 29, 2025
'There's that (saying), 'Repetition is the mother of learning,'' Payton said. 'You're seeing him play faster with a much greater awareness within each play. He's extremely explosive, and I think he's, I would say, 5 pounds heavier. A little thicker. He's had a good spring.'
For all of Franklin's ability with the ball in his hands, he must make sure it ends up in his mitts more consistently this season. His 52.8 percent catch rate in 2024 ranked 16th out of 21 rookie wide receivers with at least 10 passing targets, according to TruMedia. Fellow 2024 NFL Draft class receiver Devaughn Vele, who ranked third in the same category (74.5 percent), did not participate in minicamp for an undisclosed reason, but one Payton described as 'all good.' Vele will be a full go for the start of training camp, the coach said, adding that wide receiver A.T. Perry is the only Broncos player unlikely to be fully cleared by the first day of camp.
The injury note from Payton means two key players who missed the offseason program are expected to be ready for full-team work by the time camp begins: veteran inside linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Alex Singleton. Both were rehabbing injuries during OTAs and minicamp (a quad injury for Greenlaw; an ACL recovery for Singleton) but were a visible presence at practices, often working out on the side with trainers and then watching team drills from the sidelines. The Broncos have said consistently that the expected starting linebacker duo would be ready for camp, and that timeline hasn't changed.
The absences of Greenlaw and Singleton provided ample opportunities for players deeper down the depth chart, including third-year player Drew Sanders, who is firmly entrenched at inside linebacker after spending parts of his first two seasons playing on the edge. Justin Strnad, a veteran who played almost exclusively on special teams until stepping in for the injured Singleton on defense early last season, was a consistent playmaker during practices over the past month.
'When you look at the amount of snaps Strnad's had, all of a sudden, now there's a confidence,' Payton said. ''I'm not just a guy running down on special teams. I started a whole season.' And Drew getting that work constantly inside is extremely helpful.'
Payton was more curt in his post-practice responses than he was at this time last year, when he talked almost poetically about being energized by an injection of youthful talent on Denver's roster.
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If there was one topic that brought especially terse responses from the veteran coach, it was the status of the team's pecking order at running back. In short, Payton said, there isn't one yet.
'Don't start counting,' Payton said this week, after the Broncos added veteran JK Dobbins to the crowded running back room. 'I've heard you guys counting. Don't count, because half of you guys will be wrong. Let's just see how they do. I'm looking forward to seeing how they play. They are going to get opportunities. Look, Audric (Estimé) is gonna get more opportunities. We've seen Jaleel (McLaughlin). But don't try to figure out the club right now. It's way too early. You can go ahead and try, but …'
The bottom line is the Broncos didn't draft RJ Harvey with their second-round pick to not give him a healthy dose of snaps in Denver's backfield. They didn't sign Dobbins to a $2.75 million deal that could reach more than $5 million with incentives if they didn't plan to have him be a significant part of the rotation. When assessing how the Broncos repair a run game that ranked in the bottom third of the league last season in terms of efficiency, it starts with the room's two new additions.
But Payton's point is also clear and well founded. There are things the Broncos need to see when the pads come on. How fresh is Dobbins after a season in which he rushed for 905 yards and nine touchdowns but also missed four games with another knee injury and struggled to find daylight in the Los Angeles Chargers' first-round playoff loss to the Houston Texans? How big of a role — as a rusher, receiver and pass catcher — is Harvey ready to handle? Can Estimé become a consistently bruising downhill runner who forces his way into a role? Can McLaughlin prove impossible to ignore with another camp and preseason of big plays?
Training camp will go a long way to answering those questions, which will be critical in Denver's quest to become a more well-rounded and playoff-ready offense.
The Broncos led the NFL last season with 63 sacks, a franchise record. This year's group has a chance to be devastating to quarterbacks, even if they don't match or exceed that number. For starters, no player among Denver's edge rushers and defensive ends is older than 28. Nik Bonitto (13 1/2 sacks in 2024), Jonathon Cooper (10 1/2), Zach Allen (8 1/2) and John Franklin-Myers (seven) produced career-best sack totals last season and enter 2025 still in their primes and with another year of experience in Vance Joseph's defensive scheme.
Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman added five sacks apiece as first-year players last season and figure to see an uptick in their playing time. And rookies Sai'vion Jones and Que Robinson, Denver's third- and fourth-round draft picks, looked during the offseason program like two players who are ready to contribute to a deep group of front-seven talent. Robinson and Tillman were especially disruptive during team sessions the past few weeks.
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It all means little now, but the practice sessions this month were another reminder of just how much the Broncos have reconfigured and strengthened their defensive front over the past few offseasons.
Last season, the Broncos reached agreements on new or reworked deals with three players during a stretch from just before the start of training camp to the end of the preseason: right guard Quinn Meinerz, wide receiver Courtland Sutton and cornerback Pat Surtain II. Two more extensions, for Cooper, the outside linebacker, and left tackle Garett Bolles, came near the end of the regular season.
Those are the windows, as general manager George Paton noted at the NFL's league meetings earlier this offseason, in which the Broncos have typically done their contract business. So it was no surprise that four key players in line for potential contract extensions — Sutton, Allen, Bonitto and Franklin-Myers — ended the offseason program without new deals. While players and coaches break for the summer, those players' agents and members of the front office will carve out negotiating time as Denver continues to lock up its players.
The big question is whether the Broncos can reach agreements with all four players before the start of the season, which would make for an even busier negotiating period than Denver had last year. The business window the Broncos have laid out will soon be open.