B+
Denver Broncos
A masterclass at the trade table lands the Broncos a B+.
by Todd ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 3 steals
· 3 reaches
Somewhere a scout is still blinking. The Broncos spent slot 246 on Isaac Smith, a name the board had a full 35 spots lower. Solid and sensible more than spectacular: a B+.
They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. The Rodriguez value carries more weight than any single miss elsewhere. That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
They barely believed it either: Jacob Rodriguez still on the board at the Round 3 slot. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Sam Roush in Round 3, Pick 30 is fair value, right on his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A tidy bit of business in the 108th pick, where Bryce Lance graded well above the range. It fills a real need, too.
They jumped the gun on Kage Casey, taking him earlier than his grade liked. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Zxavian Harris slid further than he should have, and No. 170 is lovely value for the interior defensive lineman. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
No edge and no loss on Jimmy Rolder in the 227th overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A wild overpay on Isaac Smith in the 246th overall pick, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Eli Heidenreich in pick 256 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Adam Randall at No. 257 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.