There is a battle brewing on the Denver Broncos to be the 3rd starting wide receiver — a spot where you’ll be running alongside 2 of the NFL’s most talented players at the position in Jaylen Waddle and Courtland Sutton.
There might be an “early favorite” in that battle with 2nd year wide receiver Pat Bryant, a 2025 3rd round pick who has impressed early and often through OTAs, according to Mile High Report’s Scotty Payne.
That also comes after Broncos head coach Sean Payton singled Bryant out for his “maturity” in the offseason and pointed out it was hard to tell he was a 2nd-year player.
“The fact that Payton singled out how Bryant is a quick study is noteworthy,” Payne wrote on June 12. “We know that the ability to process information is a trait that he likes in his players, and if Bryant is picking up the offense quickly, that should benefit him in this competition. Add in Bryant’s confidence and maturity on top of him having a good stretch of practices, and we can assume he could be the early favorite for the WR3 job.”
Bryant had 31 receptions for 378 yards and 1 touchdown as a rookie, with the bulk of his production coming in the 2nd half of the season. That was also when he ran into injury issues, missing 2 regular-season games and making him a non-factor in 2 playoff games.
Luckily for Bryant, his struggles were more symptomatic of the Broncos as a whole and their struggles — meaning the WR3 spot is very much up for grabs.
Three-Way Battle for WR3 on Broncos
There appears to be a 3-way battle for that WR3 spot on the Broncos in 2026 between Bryant, 3rd-year wide receiver Troy Franklin, and 2-time NFL All-Pro return specialist Marvin Mims Jr.
On paper, Franklin seems to be the favorite after his numbers took a leap from Year 1 to Year 2, when he finished second on the Broncos with 65 receptions for 709 yards and 6 touchdowns, but, like Bryant, fell off dramatically down the stretch and in the playoffs.
If we were doing a poll of what the fans would like to see, there’s little doubt the job would go to Mims, a fan favorite who has had at least 1,100 all-purpose yards in each of his 1st 3 seasons and cracked 1,500 all-purpose yards in 2025.
Pat Bryant Packed on Muscle in Offseason
In May, Bryant talked with DNVR’s Zac Stevens about his offseason recovery program following an injury-filled end to his rookie season.
“I’ve been in (Denver) basically the whole offseason,” Bryant said on Friday. “Nursing my hamstring and overall just getting right, getting my body back, and working with our training staff to be the best version of myself this season … I’ve put on a couple of pounds obviously, coming off that rookie season and not getting to build like I want to build (my body), so it’s putting on a couple of pounds so I can go out there and play without worrying about injuries.”
The Broncos hold their mandatory minicamp from June 16 to June 18.
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