INDIANAPOLIS — After earning a playoff berth, the Broncos are slated to pick several slots later in the 2025 NFL Draft than in recent years.

A season after using the 12th-overall selection to secure Bo Nix as the team's future at quarterback, the Broncos are currently scheduled to be on the clock at No. 20 in April.

General Manager George Paton, though, believes the makeup of this year's draft may result in Denver finding a comparable player to the one they may have chosen with an earlier pick.

"This draft, we're still getting to learn and we're still getting to know these players," Paton said Tuesday. "I don't think there's a big difference from [No.] 10 to 20 in the draft, really. I think you can sit at [No.] 20 and maybe get the same caliber of player. Again, it's early, so I hesitate to say that, but I think it's going to be good at [No.] 20."

Paton said at this point in the NFL schedule, it's still hard to project how the draft will unfold and which players will be available at No. 20. But as April approaches, Paton said he hopes to have several options when Denver is on the clock.

"I think by the time you get close to the draft, we'll have an idea," Paton said. "You're never sure. You'll have hopefully four players there that will be there."

The Broncos will have increased flexibility in 2025, as they hold both a first- and second-round pick for the first time since 2021. In addition to the 20th-overall pick, Denver holds pick No. 51, according to Tankathon.com.

"It's really beneficial," Paton said of holding those two picks. "You can add blue-chip players throughout the draft; It's a little bit more difficult. But it just gives you more flexibility. You can move back in the first, you can move back in the second, just get picks. It helps you work the draft board a little easier when you have a second. When you don't have that second, it's hard to move up in the first. It's huge. The second round is a key area. We've done pretty good in the second, so it's great to have it."

Since Paton became general manager, the Broncos have selected Javonte Williams (2021) and Pro Bowlers Nik Bonitto (2022) and Marvin Mims Jr. (2023) in the second round.

The draft begins, though, with Denver's first-round pick. And while Paton and Head Coach Sean Payton don't yet know which players will fall, the process has begun to be ready for any and all scenarios.

"At No. 20, we will have some good options," Payton said. "We are here to sort through those options right now, and we will go from there."