{"id":265600,"date":"2026-04-25T07:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T07:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/265600\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T07:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T07:24:09","slug":"broncos-pick-texas-am-dl-tyler-onyedim-in-third-round-of-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/265600\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos pick Texas A&M DL Tyler Onyedim in third round of NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a long wait, the Broncos made their first pick of the NFL Draft on Friday night, selecting Texas A&M defensive lineman Tyler Onyedim at No. 66 at the top of the third round. The move adds a new body to Denver\u2019s defensive front after the loss of John Franklin-Myers in free agency<\/a>. The selection of Onyedim comes after the Broncos traded back from their original No. 62 slot in the second round, sending that pick to the Buffalo Bills for their third-round pick and No. 182 in the sixth round.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a quiet but impactful move, as Franklin-Myers was the Broncos\u2019 most notable loss this offseason from a team that advanced to the AFC title game in 2025. The 6-foot-3, 292-pound Onyedim played four years at Iowa State before transferring to Texas A&M for his final season in 2025, racking up 2.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss for the Aggies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a blessing, being able to learn from the best, man,\u201d an audibly beaming Onyedim said on a post-pick conference call with reporters Friday night. \u201cThey got a really, really good D-line. I\u2019m excited. I\u2019m happy, I\u2019m excited. I\u2019m really ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a neat twist, Onyedim has remained close with veteran Denver defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike since a shared 2021 season at Iowa State, when Onyedim was a freshman and Uwazurike was a senior. The two are going to be in each other\u2019s wedding parties, Onyedim said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s big bro,\u201d Onyedim said. \u201cThat\u2019s my dog, you know what I\u2019m saying?\u201d<\/p>\n

Little bro, now, will compete with\u00a0big bro\u00a0for snaps at the heart of the Broncos\u2019 defensive line in 2026. Uwazurike and third-round rookie Sai\u2019vion Jones stood as the presumptive next men up with Franklin-Myers\u2019 departure, with backup nose tackle Malcolm Roach also likely to shoulder some of Franklin-Myers\u2019 snaps. Onyedim, though, is a clear direct potential replacement for the former veteran pass-rusher, as he has a nearly identical frame to Franklin-Myers (6-foot-4 and 288 pounds).<\/p>\n

The Broncos\u2019 third-round pick didn\u2019t take a top-30 visit or have extensive pre-draft communication with Denver, as the organization typically keeps its board close to its vest. Onyedim, though, told reporters that Broncos defensive-line coach Jamar Cain \u201creally liked my tape,\u201d and he studied Franklin-Myers, Zach Allen and Denver\u2019s defensive line in the pre-draft process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mindset is just to learn, you know what I\u2019m saying?\u201d Onyedim said. \u201cDon\u2019t be no, arrogant person. Just want to sit back, learn from the vets, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Broncos were the final team of 32 to send in a draft selection in Pittsburgh. Denver, of course, no longer had its first-round pick \u2014 originally slotted for No. 30 \u2014 after the Broncos traded that slot and a third-rounder for Dolphins star receiver Jaylen Waddle<\/a> in mid-March. And as general manager George Paton emphasized pre-draft that it\u2019d be unlikely for the Broncos to trade back into the first round, the war room largely sat quiet on Thursday night, with no Denver activity as a slew of one-time targets made their way off the board<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The board looked, early in the second, like it\u2019d fall the Broncos\u2019 way, as no linebacker or tight end was selected until the Miami Dolphins jumped for Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez at No. 43. That, though, set off a run of picks at the Broncos\u2019 positions of need. Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers went to the Eagles with the 54th overall pick, and the Titans jumped up to select Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. at No. 60 before the Rams snagged Ohio State tight end Max Klare one pick before the Broncos\u2019 selection.<\/p>\n

Instead of standing pat and continuing down their board, the Broncos opted to slide back and pick up additional draft capital, an oft-used mechanism for GM Paton. According to the Jimmy Johnson draft-pick valuation model \u2014 which assigns a numerical value to each pick in the draft \u2014 the trade graded out as a finite loss for Denver, with the value of Buffalo\u2019s third-round and sixth-round picks at 278.2 and Denver\u2019s former second-round slot at 284.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have flexibility with the seven picks to move up, or move back and get more picks,\u201d Paton hinted in a pre-draft presser last week. \u201cAnd so, we have experience with this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the overall positioning through Denver\u2019s first two rounds is rare in its franchise history. The Broncos have only gone through two previous drafts \u2014 1986 and 1995 \u2014 without picking in the first round or second round.<\/p>\n

The Broncos, now, are set for a busy Day 3, with seven selections set across the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds. Denver, too, could easily look to move back up into the third round.<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a long wait, the Broncos made their first pick of the NFL Draft on Friday night, selecting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7706,3607,16308,80,154,27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-265600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-denver-broncos","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-more-broncos-news","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-texas-headlines","15":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}