After covering the top Denver Broncos offensive fits yesterday, we’re wrapping up with the big board for the defense. Again, this big board was created from some AI-assisted research into the draft tendencies of both George Paton and Sean Payton. It’s all a guessing game, but a fun one.
Let’s see who the best fits were on defense regardless of round. Tight End Eli Stowers was the top offensive fit and the only offensive player who scored above 90 on the PPFS methodology (see description of method at end of post). However, there were three players who topped that 90 score on defense and one is definitely within Denver’s range in the second round.
Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State, 1st, (Tier 1, PPFS ~96)Ohio State’s 5’11″/206 unanimous All-American and Jim Thorpe winner carries the rarest combination in the class: 256 career tackles, six picks, zero touchdowns allowed on 874 coverage snaps, and a father who once wore orange-and-blue. The Broncos have no R1 pick to spend, but on pure talent he’s the clean top of the board — a true center-field eraser who solves the Brandon Jones walk-year problem before it starts.
Anthony Hill Jr., LB, Texas, 2nd-3rd, (Tier 1, PPFS ~94)A 6’2″/238 Texas three-down hammer with captain traits and genuine coverage range, Hill is the rare off-ball linebacker who can MIKE or WILL on Sunday. He simultaneously solves Denver’s Singleton-succession plan and the Greenlaw-replacement hole in one pick. Former five-star, 21 years old on draft day, sideline-to-sideline pursuit — exactly the crisis-fix profile the second round is built for.
Dillon Thieneman, S, Oregon, 1st-2nd, (Tier 1, PPFS ~92)Oregon’s 6’0″/201 four-time captain posts a 4.35 forty, eight career interceptions, 306 tackles across 39 starts, and a Justin Reid comp. First-team Academic All-American with no medical flags and the exact single-high processor Denver’s defense is asking for behind Jones. The Oregon pipeline plus the free-safety gap makes Thieneman the highest-modifier stack on the defensive side of the class.
Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State, 1st, (Tier 1, PPFS ~89)Ohio State’s 6’5″/244 hybrid safety-to-linebacker convert is Brugler’s LB1 — a coverage-first nickel body with Paton’s favorite archetype (Kidsy, Strnad, Greenlaw lineage) and direct Greenlaw-replacement utility. He’s likely off the board before #62, but the defensive-investment pattern keeps him in play if he slips. Modern linebacker in every sense the Broncos scheme asks for.
A.J. Haulcy, S, LSU, 2nd-3rd, (Tier 1, PPFS ~88)LSU’s 6’0″/215 ‘Mr. Give Me That’ turnover machine logged 10 career interceptions and 347 tackles across three schools with no medical history. Played one-high, two-high, and big nickel — scheme-versatile range the Broncos defense can deploy instantly. The LSU pipeline, the free-safety gap, and elite ball production stack cleanly into R2 #62 as a genuine second-round bullseye.
CJ Allen, LB, Georgia, 2nd, (Tier 1, PPFS ~88)Georgia’s 6’1″/230 captain and three-down processor carries the strongest school pipeline on Paton’s defensive board. Clean reads, plus tackling form, coverage utility, and a legitimate green-dot candidacy to eventually succeed Alex Singleton at MIKE. SEC pedigree plus the captain signature slots him into Tier 1 as a ready-to-play second-round option.
Keldric Faulk, EDGE, Auburn, 1st-2nd, (Tier 1, PPFS ~88)Auburn’s 6’6″/274 captain has 35″ arms and is the only true 270+ base-end in the class — the exact Franklin-Myers replacement profile for Denver’s run defense. Plays 4i/5-tech, stacks and sheds efficiently, rarely misses tackles. The character story (single-mother household, NIL donations to walk-ons) is the kind of intangibles spike this regime has historically paid up for. Mykel Williams comp.
Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU, 1st, (Tier 1, PPFS ~88)LSU’s 6’0″/185 press-man alpha has eight career interceptions, zero medical history, and an R1 grade — the cleanest top-of-board cornerback in the class. The LSU pipeline runs deep with this front office, and Delane plays with the press strength, ball skills, and recovery speed the Broncos scheme demands. A true rookie-contributor boundary corner who stretches the depth chart multiple years past Moss and McMillian’s walks.
Kayden McDonald, DT, Ohio State, 1st-2nd, (Tier 1, PPFS ~87)Ohio State’s 6’2″/326 nose at age 21, Unanimous All-American and Big Ten DL of the Year. Scouts call him the most dominant player on several OSU tapes — resets the line of scrimmage with initial burst and power, shuts down A-gap run lanes. Fills the D.J. Jones succession lane with rare youth at the position. Ohio State pipeline is among the strongest on the Broncos’ historical board.
Toriano Pride Jr., CB, Missouri, 6th-7th, (Tier 1, PPFS ~87)Missouri’s 5’10″/185 boundary corner ran a 4.32 forty (second-fastest defender at the combine), has 31″ arms, five career picks including pick-sixes in consecutive seasons, and never missed a game across 52 appearances. Missouri pipeline plus Hula Bowl validation plus elite speed plus ball production at Day-3 capital is an archetype-perfect stack. If he’s on the board at R6, this is the pick.
Kyle Louis, LB, Pittsburgh, 3rd, (Tier 1, PPFS ~86)A 6’0″/220 Pitt linebacker with legitimate blitz flex and range. Pass-rush value from the off-ball position is the exact modifier Payton-Paton have paid for (Strnad’s 4.5 sacks in 2025). The frame caps his ceiling, but the sub-package blitz-and-coverage skillset makes him a Day-2 bet on modern linebacker traits who complements Singleton rather than duplicates Strnad.
Darrell Jackson Jr., DT, Florida State, 4th, (Tier 1, PPFS ~85)Florida State’s 6’6″/315 captain has 35 1/4″ arms, an 86.5″ wingspan, and a Super Bowl MVP uncle (Dexter Jackson). Didn’t play football until 16, bulked from 200 to 315, transferred to be near an ill mother. Plays with awesome straight-ahead power, walks centers backward, and does the dirty work at nose. Captain designation, dual all-star validation, rare size, Day-2/3 price — the cleanest DL fit for what Denver actually needs.
Malik Muhammad, CB, Texas, 3rd, (Tier 1, PPFS ~85)Texas’s 6’0″/182 corner brings 32 3/8″ arms — the length profile this front office has consistently rewarded at the DB position. Texas pipeline connection, R3 grade that fits Denver’s Day-2 DB investment pattern, and the press-boundary archetype Vance Joseph’s scheme is built around. Pipeline plus length plus the right-round capital at exactly Denver’s second-pick window is a textbook PPFS stack.
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, S, Toledo, 1st-2nd, (Tier 2, PPFS ~84)Toledo’s 6’4″/201 safety brings 32 1/8″ arms, five career picks, nine forced fumbles, and 214 tackles, plus the first-generation-college intangibles profile Paton historically rewards. A rare 6’4″ rangy boundary body fills the free-safety gap and offers TE-matchup versatility against the AFC West passing attacks. Fully cleared 2024 shoulder. Confirmed Broncos combine meeting. The R1-R2 grade is expensive, but the gap-urgency plus archetype-rarity justifies it.
LT Overton, EDGE, Alabama, 4th, (Tier 2, PPFS ~84)Alabama’s 6’3″/274 (287 at his pro day) EDGE has class-best 10 5/8″ hands, a Senior Bowl invite, and a Campbell Trophy semifinalist academic profile. Age 21, former five-star, SEC/Big 12 parent-athletic bloodlines. Gap-sound, unselfish run defender who sets firm edges — exactly the heavy base-end profile Denver lost when Franklin-Myers walked. The Alabama-to-Denver pipeline has shown up repeatedly on pre-draft boards.
Chris McClellan, DT, Missouri, 3rd-4th, (Tier 2, PPFS ~83)Missouri’s 6’4″/313 DT has 34″ arms, 11″ hands, a Senior Bowl invite, and zero missed games across 51 career appearances — iron-man durability this front office has consistently rewarded. Scheme-flexible 0/1-tech who rotates between nose snaps and 3-tech reps. Missouri-to-Denver is a direct pipeline (Pride, Abrams-Draine), and this is the exact rotational interior body the room hasn’t drafted in three years.
Jacob Rodriguez, LB, Texas Tech, 2nd, (Tier 2, PPFS ~83)Texas Tech’s 6’1″/231 linebacker at 23 on draft day is a three-down processor with starter-caliber reps and Brugler’s LB2 grade. Not flashy, but the ready-now profile fits a roster in genuine depth crisis. The kind of low-variance early-Day-2 plug-and-play option that minimizes risk at a position Denver cannot afford to miss on in 2026.
Chris Johnson, CB, San Diego State, 1st-2nd, (Tier 2, PPFS ~82)San Diego State’s Senior Bowl invitee earned a ‘give-a-damn factor is to the moon’ scouting line and logged 687 career special-teams snaps — a maximum-density character and ST stack this coaching staff has rewarded repeatedly. No pipeline tie, but the intangibles and ST floor match the profile Paton targeted in Barron and Surtain pre-draft reports. A multi-phase boundary body with immediate four-phase ST contribution.