Broncos offense has made massive improvement in one key metric

The Broncos’ penchant for dropped passes last season irked Sean Payton – so much so that he dismissed his wide-receivers coach from last season, Keary Colbert, and at one point during his end-of-season press conference last January went on a tangent about proper pass-catching technique with the hands.

“We’ve got speed, we’ve got size, we’ve got all the things I’m used to, [that] you’d want to have in a good offense,” Payton said at the time. “But I think that there’s a proper way to catch a football and most of the times it’s with your thumbs together. Not the other way around.

“And the other way around — I’m serious — only exists when the ball is below your belly button. Even the deep balls should be caught with your thumbs together. So, we gotta be better at that.”

How bad were the Broncos last year? Consider that they had the second-highest drop rate in the league, per data from SportRadar.

That makes where they sit heading into Week 10 all the more remarkable: Their drop rate is now fourth-best in the NFL, dropping just one of every 22.8 catchable passes. Last season — including the playoffs — Broncos pass catchers dropped one of every 10.0 catchable passes.

Individually, arguably no one has improved more than tight end Evan Engram, who had the second-worst drop rate among tight ends targeted at least 25 times in the 2025 campaign. This year, he’s dropped one of every 18 catchable passes, a stark improvement from when he dropped one of every 7.6 catchable passes.

RJ Harvey also struggled with drops last year, with one in every nine catchable passes. This season, he hasn’t dropped a pass.

There’s plenty that still needs to be tweaked about the Broncos’ offense, but through nine games, they appear to have fixed one quite glaring glitch.

BRONCOS INDIVIDUAL DROP RATES, 2025-26

(Note: 2025 numbers include postseason)

Pat Bryant

• 2025: One drop every 13 catchable passes
• 2026: One drop every 14 catchable passes

Evan Engram

• 2025: One drop every 7.6 catchable passes
• 2026: One drop every 18 catchable passes

Troy Franklin

• 2025: One drop every 13.4 catchable passes
• 2026: Zero drops in nine catchable passes

RJ Harvey

• 2025: One drop every 9 catchable passes
• 2026: Zero drops in 25 catchable passes

Marvin Mims Jr.


• 2025: One drop every 49 catchable passes
• 2026: Zero drops in 10 catchable passes

Courtland Sutton

• 2025: One drop every 9.1 catchable passes
• 2026: One drop every 7.3 catchable passes

Jaylen Waddle

• 2025 (with Miami): One drop every 17 catchable passes
• 2026: One drop every 16 catchable passes

Related

Bo Nix will join ‘Manningcast’ for Monday’s Chargers-Ravens gameBo Nix deserves an A+ in the fourth quarter, but the first three quarters count tooWhat grade does the Broncos offense get at the bye week?The failed Daiyan Henley trade costs the Broncos more than depthDoes friction between Sean Payton and Bo Nix help the Broncos?Jim Harbaugh accuses Broncos of using Henley’s physical to lower trade price