Dynasty Football Factory’s 2025 NFL Draft Coverage: Pat Bryant

Pat Bryant | Illinois                       6’2” 204 lbs.             12/10/2002 (22)

Pat Bryant was drafted by the Denver Broncos, becoming the 10th wide receiver and 74th overall player in the 2025 NFL Draft.

COLLEGE PRODUCTION

Pat Bryant was a four-year player for Illinois, gradually improving his numbers each season before finally emerging as Luke Altmyer’s WR1 in 2024. While teammate Zakhari Franklin finished with more targets and receptions this past season, Bryant posted 332 more receiving yards and six more receiving touchdowns. From an efficiency standpoint, Bryant earned a modest 22.4% target rate in 2024. His 2.83 yards per route run (YPRR) was borderline elite, finishing 18th in the FBS out of 344 wide receivers with 40+ targets. From a fantasy standpoint, Bryant’s red zone presence is most exciting. While we know touchdowns are not a particularly sticky metric year over year, we’ve seen Bryant haul in 17 touchdowns on 97 receptions over the past two seasons. He was clearly the first read for Altmyer near the endzone. 

FILM

STRENGTHS

Bryant is a tough, physical X receiver who shines at the catch point. He has some of the best footwork, boundary awareness, and body control I’ve seen in this class. Bryant is excellent in contested-catch situations, able to box out smaller DBs and high-point the football. He’s a good stem manipulator, using head fakes and single/double moves to get the defender to open his hips.  

WEAKNESSES 

I do have some concerns for Bryant’s ability to separate deep at the NFL level. He doesn’t have a ton of burst or long speed to his game, but he made it work in college as he was able to win consistently at the catch point. Bryant never finished with an ADOT under 12.0 in college, so he frequently gets his production from the third level. Bryant will need to improve on his release packages if he hopes to hit his potential on Sundays.

ATHLETIC TESTING

Bryant finished with a respectable RAS of 7.08. He posted impressive vertical and broad jump numbers, but his 40-yard dash and split times were below average. A 4.61 40-time is certainly not a major red flag, but we’d ideally like to see some faster times from a player who may be deployed as more of a deep threat. 

Bryant’s RAS results confirm what we’ve seen on tape: he’s not the most explosive receiver in the world, but he’s functionally athletic and can consistently win in jump-ball situations. Bryant’s strong hands and large catch radius should translate well at the next level.  

DRAFT ANALYSIS 

Rapid Reaction to Draft Capital: Good

Rapid Reaction to Landing Spot: Good

Pat Bryant was selected with the 74th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.

The wide receiver depth chart in Denver is far from imposing. The WR1, Courtland Sutton, is entering his age-30 season and his final year on contract. Marvin Mims flashed late in the season as a splash-play guy, but the jury is still out on him. Devaughn Vele and Troy Franklin are entering Year 2, but didn’t necessarily show us enough to confirm they’ll be a major part of this passing offense in 2025. I don’t expect Bryant to be a Week 1 starter, but I do believe he will gradually see his role expand and may be a starter by midseason. 

FANTASY INSIGHTS

Before the NFL Draft, I had Bryant ranked as an early-fourth-round prospect. He was one of “my guys” in the DFF Rookie Draft Guide, but being a presumed Day 3 flyer, I didn’t feel comfortable putting him any higher at the time. Now that we have a landing spot and the draft capital we can be reasonably excited about, I’ve moved Bryant up to 27th in my Superflex rookie ranks. He likely won’t be someone you can place in your starting lineups this coming season, but I think the path to production is pretty clear over the long run. 

Bryant was one of my favorite prospects relative to cost pre-draft, and I expect to remain above-market on Bryant post-draft, so I should have a healthy bag in dynasty. I would target Bryant in the early third of your Superflex rookie drafts. He’s paired with a young rising star at quarterback in Bo Nix, and has the potential to emerge at the top X receiver for Denver as early as 2026. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding