In addition to watching their favorite team closely in the 2025 NFL Draft, LA Chargers fans should have also been watching their AFC West rivals closely. After all, the Chargers' road to the Super Bowl first goes through the AFC West.
Unfortunately, there were some truly great picks made by the Chargers' AFC West rivals (including the Las Vegas Raiders drafting someone who is compared to an all-time Chargers great). Not every pick was great, though, and it is also worth celebrating the bad picks made by rivals.
It is a bit disingenous to point out a day-three draft pick as most picks (including the Chargers' own picks) won't work out. However, when a rival reaches for a day-three prospect in the first three rounds of the draft it is notable (and worth celebrating).
The Denver Broncos did exactly that in the third round with wide receiver Pat Bryant.
Chargers fans should celebrate Broncos' Pat Bryant draft reach
Denver drafted Bryant with the No. 74 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Just so you get an idea of how early Bryant went in the draft, NFL.com projected him to be a sixth-rounder and the consensus big board had him ranked 162nd.
It's clear that Bryant was projected to be a late pick in the draft but the Broncos didn't get the memo. There was something about Bryant's game that Denver obviously loved to convince the team to reach for Bryant much sooner than anyone would have expected.
Bryant caught 54 passes for 984 yards with 10 touchdowns for Illinois in 2024. While those are decent numbers, they don't tell the entire story about his uninspiring tape and his 4.61 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine.
Bryant struggled when he played top-tier competition in college and while his physical play is respectable, it does not seem like it will translate well to the NFL. That hasn't stopped Sean Payton from comparing this draft reach to Michael Thomas, which is going to make the pick even worse if it does not pan out.
Denver desperately needed to add offensive playmakers around Bo Nix and probably didn't do a good enough job doing that. RJ Harvey is an exciting running back prospect for the Broncos in the second round but with Bryant being the best pass-catching addition, Broncos fans should feel a bit disappointed by the draft class.
Bryant may not even start for the Broncos in 2025 and it's not like the wide receiver room is loaded with talent. Thus, the Broncos may have used a top-75 pick on someone who doesn't impact the team at all. That is great news for the Chargers.