The Denver Broncos jettisoned Jerry Jeudy and Russell Wilson, doing a soft reset on their offense, and changing the landscape of their fantasy football options. They snagged four fantasy football-relevant players in the NFL draft; let’s take a look at their prospects for their first season in the NFL!
FULL 2024 DENVER BRONCOS DRAFT RESULTS
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 12 | Bo Nix | QB | Oregon |
| 3 | 76 | Jonah Elliss | EDGE | Utah |
| 4 | 102 | Troy Franklin | WR | Oregon |
| 5 | 145 | Kris Abrams-Draine | CB | Missouri |
| 5 | 147 | Audric Estime | RB | Notre Dame |
| 7 | 235 | Devaughn Vele | WR | Utah |
| 7 | 256 | Nick Gargiulo | OC | South Carolina |
Round 1, Pick 12 Overall: Bo Nix, Quarterback, Oregon (6’2” 214 lbs)
[Note: The following is an excerpt from our Round One Instant Reaction piece.]
Talent:
Bo Nix doesn’t have the big arm of Michael Penix, and he doesn’t check all the boxes on what throws he regularly uncorks at Oregon, but I still like him more than Penix. He’s far more comfortable when the pocket breaks down than Penix, and his ability to improvise outside of structure puts him as my fifth quarterback on the board over Penix. Nix has good precision and accuracy, as his game is predicated on slicing and dicing you rather than uncorking a big one to snap your defense in half. Nix also has good pocket awareness and a knack for subtle movements inside the pocket to help him stay free from defenders.
All told, Nix already looks like an NFL-caliber quarterback. Granted, he will be 24 when the season starts, but he already can execute an offense, meaning he should get some starts in 2024. I’m not particularly interested in him for fantasy, however, as he doesn’t run the ball too much.
Comparison: Brock Purdy
2024 Opportunity:
Bo Nix already has the inside track in the Denver QB room, as his main competition is… *checks notes*… Zach Wilson?! That can’t be right. Anyway, he is set to be the QB1 in Denver, but I am not so sure that is worth a whole heck of a lot in fantasy football. The Broncos have a decent offensive line (eighth in pass block win rate last year), but their weaponry and their head coach are both a bit of a puzzling mess so far in Denver. The Broncos moved on from Jerry Jeudy, leaving annual underachiever Courtland Sutton and all-potential team Marvin Mims as his top two weapons. They also have Javonte Williams, Josh Reynolds, and Adam Trautman, but tell me if you see a name there that will carry a rookie receiver like Nix to glory.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
I have zero interest in Nix in 1QB leagues and he’s a low-floor QB3 in 2QB and Superflex leagues.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 4, Pick 102 Overall: Troy Franklin, Wide Receiver, Oregon (6’2” 176 lbs)
Talent:
Let’s get the easy thing out of the way first: he is incredibly skinny. Like, super skinny. His 22.6 BMI ties him with KaVontae Turpin as the lowest for any wide receiver in the NFL. He’s also the lightest receiver who is at least 6’0” in the NFL, and he is 6’2”. So, now that we have that out of the way, we also have his 40-yard dash. He ran a 4.41, which is incredibly fast, and… that’s the entirety of his game.
Troy Franklin is skinny, and fast, though not as fast as Xavier Worthy. He pretty much only found consistent success on go routes in 2023, especially since he needed to be wide open to catch a ball due to his strength being commensurate with his BMI (not great). He also struggled with lateral change of direction, though the threat of speed found him open fairly frequently on curls and comebacks. He just isn’t a very versatile wide receiver, though he will probably win someone a lot of money in DFS or a best ball.
NFL Comparison: Robbie Chosen
2024 Opportunity:
The Troy Franklin pick confounds me, as it adds a third type of this guy to the Broncos’ passing game behind Courtland Sutton, with Marvin Mims and Tim Patrick already there. It feels like the Broncos are going to go with Courtland Sutton, and just let the chips fall where they may be behind him. While Mims has a health and talent advantage, Tim Patrick has the consistency, and Troy Franklin has the existing connection with new quarterback Bo Nix. It’s a fluid situation, and one to monitor as the offseason progresses.
That having been said, the Broncos passing game is going to have a shockingly low ceiling, and the path to Troy Franklin claiming that slot is fraught with hazards, with so many things that could go wrong for him this season. He could be the WR2 and not top 75 targets in Denver this season. Tread lightly.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
Someone will out-clever themselves at the draft and take Franklin in the last round of the draft. I can’t be mad at them, there’s no bad last-round pick. That being said, I’d rather let someone else shoot that shot than fire that bullet at Franklin.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 5, Pick 147 Overall: Audric Estime, Running Back, Notre Dame (5’11” 221 lbs)
Talent:
Between Walker Kelly, Tony Martin and myself, Football Absurdity will not under-estime Audric. Just a little joke there for you folks, haha. Anyway, Audric Estimate is an absolute tank of a runner, and a complete powerman 5000, crushing defenders by falling forward or just carrying them on his back en route to long touchdowns. That’s his number one defining trait, and a good one for a running back to have: it’s damn near impossible to bring him down. He’s an incredible pass blocker, which limits his PPR upside, but you can’t stop him within five yards, which explains why he had 6.4 yards per carry and 18 rushing touchdowns in 2023. He has the ability to be a three-down back, which is completely missing in this running back class outside of very few, including Estime.
NFL Comparison: Leonard Fournette
2024 Opportunity:
The Broncos backfield is shockingly thin, with only Javonte Williams (who has never been a bell cow back, not even in college) and glorified scatbacks Samaje Perine & Jaleel McLaughlin challenging Audric Estime for carries. While Williams’ top-line numbers are bad, he created a ton of yards (20th-most in the league) thanks to the volume and an above-average yards created per carry metric from PlayerProfiler.com.
I say this without hyperbole that Audric Estime could surpass Javonte Williams as the team’s RB1 before Halloween. Williams has always thrived as a part-time, home run-hitting back. This is exemplified by his awful juke rate statistic (15.5%) and his high breakaway run rate (5.5%). His yards created per touch and breakaway run rate are almost identical to Najee Harris’ statistics in 2023… and his juke rate is worse than Najee’s.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
As I write this, Estime is RB62 off the board, and completely free in every single draft. He is my favorite late-round stash, and there is no reason to assume that he won’t have a stranglehold on the RB1 job in Denver by Halloween. He’s a draft and stash in all formats.
TALENT:
OPPORTUNITY:
OUTLOOK:
Round 7, Pick 235 Overall: Devaughn Vele, Wide Receiver, Utah (6’4” 203 lbs)
Talent:
Vele is a versatile receiver, who played inside and out wide, and frequently was the motion man on plays for Utah. He has strong hands and plays up to his size, though he can get bodied at the point of attack at times, making it difficult for him to complete the catch. Overall, he’s a guy whose speed, size, and versatility would make him an ideal WR5 somewhere that has a strong room around him. He’s already old, at 26 years old, so there isn’t much room for him to grow. He’s better than his numbers indicate (don’t box score scout him) because their quarterbacks suck butt.
NFL Comparison: Somewhere between Romeo Doubs and Jauan Jennings
2024 Opportunity:
Vele, who is fun to watch, isn’t consistent enough to make himself a reliable part of the Broncos passing game. He could elevate an offense through his skill set in a situational role, but he won’t be a difference-maker. He also won’t get targets.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
Don’t bother, he isn’t going to matter in fantasy leagues this year.
