Broncos' WR Pat Bryant gets key update on eve of rookie season in Denver

Billy Heyen

Broncos' WR Pat Bryant gets key update on eve of rookie season in Denver image

The Denver Broncos made sure to add some talent for Bo Nix to throw to in the 2025 NFL Draft.

In the third round, they grabbed Pat Bryant out of Illinois.

On the even of Bryant's NFL regular season debut, GM George Paton said that he's "ahead of schedule," according to The Athletic.

"Bryant is a big, friendly target who gets open and has reliable hands," writes The Athletic's Jourdan Rodrigue. "Head coach Sean Payton will also lean on his physicality as a blocker."

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Bryant measures up at 6-foot-2 and 204 pounds.

In his final season at Illinois, Bryant was prolific. He dropped just one of the 78 passes thrown his way.

Even more impressively, of Bryant's 54 catches in 2024, 52 of them went for either a first down or a touchdown.

Overall in his college career, Bryant made 136 catches, with 19 being TDs and 95 being first downs.

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He doesn't have to be a star right away. The Broncos have another big receiver, Courtland Sutton, to do that.

Denver also has speedy Marvin Mims to be a playmaker all over the field as a wide receiver.

But down the road, and maybe even in the early going, Bryant can be a secondary presence for Nix to throw to, potentially battling with second-year Troy Franklin for playing time.

It certainly sounds like the Broncos got a good one in Bryant, and now it's just figuring out how to make the best use of him to begin his career.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle