Pat Bryant earned this bold comparison from Broncos coach Sean Payton

Pat Bryant hasn’t even received his locker-room stall at Broncos Park Powered By CommonSpirit and already there’s a prominent name to which the Denver Broncos’ third-round pick is connected.

It just so happens that the name is the one belonging to the NFL’s all-time single-season record holder for receptions.

“We always talk about, ‘Who does he remind [you of]?’ We try to find comps,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “There were so many things about his game that reminded me of Mike Thomas.”

Before injuries caught up to Michael Thomas, the Day 2 pick from a Big Ten school, a Round 2 selection from Ohio State — just like Bryant, the Round 3 choice from Illinois — had four consecutive seasons in which he never failed to notch at least 1,100 yards.

Three of those campaigns saw him catch at least 100 passes, including the record-breaking 149-catch season in 2019.

“I mean, holy cow. You don’t ever want to put pressure on a rookie like that, we’re just talking about traits,” Payton said. “But really explosive off the line of scrimmage, he’s very competitive, very tough.”

Thomas fit the template of the big-bodied receiver that Payton likes — 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds, large catch radius, able to make plays in traffic, long stride once he gets into the open field. Bryant does, too — 6-foot-2, 204 pounds, 78-inch wingspan.

The knock on Bryant: His timed speed. The 4.61 40-yard dash time didn’t work in. his favor. But that’s not much different than Thomas’ 40 time at the 2016 Combine; he clocked in at 4.57 seconds.

BUT SOME NUMBERS WORK IN PAT BRYANT’S FAVOR

Take drop rate — particularly improvement therein, as reflected in data collected by Pro Football Focus:

• 2021: 1 drop every 7 catchable passes
• 2022: 1 per 6.6 catchable passes
• 2023: 1 per 11.8 catchable passes
• 2024: 1 per 55 catchable passes

“His size and his hands are outstanding,” Payton said. “He was just a player that excelled in crunch time. I think he had a walk-off [or] a couple of these big plays.”

And then Payton came back to Thomas again.

“Just of a lot of traits that Mike had, especially at the line of scrimmage,” he said.

Most projections had Bryant going on Day 3 of the draft, which is why eyebrows arched in some circles when his name popped up at the time that it did. The timed speed seemed to indicate a prospect who would slip to the fourth or fifth round.

But draft boards often differ from pundit rankings. And if Pat Bryant is anything in the area code of the lofty comparisons that Payton made Friday night, no one will consider the selection to be audacious; instead, it will seem like a steal.

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