By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst
April 25, 2025
Pat Bryant will still be wearing orange and blue as he transitions to the National Football League.
The former Illinois wide receiver Bryant was selected Friday evening in the third round, with the No. 74 overall pick, of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.
Bryant, a 6-foot-2 and 204-pound athlete, finished second in the Big Ten in receiving yards (984), tied for first in receiving touchdowns (10) and tied for second in yards per reception (18.2). Bryant tied the program's single-season record for receiving touchdowns and is the only player nationally with three game-winning touchdowns in the final two minutes or overtime this season. He ranks ninth all-time in program history with 2,095 career receiving yards and tied with A.J. Jenkins for third all-time in career receiving touchdowns (19).
Bryant is the highest selected wide receiver to come from the Illini program since Jenkins was taken in the first round (No. 30 overall) by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2012 draft.
Denver finished with a 10-7 record in the 2024 season, which team's first winning season since 2016 and their first playoff berth since their 2015 Super Bowl-winning season, under second-year head coach Sean Payton with rookie quarterback Bo Nix. Wide receiver was considered my most analysts to be a major positional need for the Broncos in this 2025 draft and Bryant was the 11th wide receiver selected in the first two days of the draft.
The depth chart for wide receiver in Denver is thin on production as only one projected returning player (Courtland Sutton) had more than 41 receptions last season.
Bryant, a former three-star prospect out of Jacksonville, Fla. who gave his verbal pledge to Lovie Smith’s Illini program but stayed committed to Illinois after Bret Bielema was hired in Dec. 2020, totaled 2,095 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns during his four-year Illinois career. It was this past season where Bryant obviously stood out as an outside receiver posting 984 receiving yards and a program-record-tying 10 receiving touchdowns in 2024. He was named to 2024 Phil Steele All-America Second Team.
Bryant tied for the Big Ten lead in receiving touchdowns (10) and finished second in receiving yards (984) during last year's regular season. One of the most clutch players in this year's draft class, Bryant was the only player in the nation with three game-winning touchdowns in the final two minutes or overtime last year with winners against Nebraska, Rutgers, and Purdue.
“The thing about Pat Bryant is he was pretty polished before I got here as the receivers coach last season and he didn’t know me from Adam. I just can’t speak enough to how coachable he was,” Illinois wide receivers coach Justin Stepp said on April 18. “He set the standard that Coach Bielema talks about all the time. Before the season started, Pat Bryant stood up in front of our whole team and talked about his daily routine. He was the first one in the building in here and it’s hard to beat [Bielema] into this building I promise you that. He was a pro even before this (draft) weekend.”
Bryant was the 2024 Loren Tate Award winner, given awarded to the Illinois football player who not only is most cooperative with local media but exhibits himself with professional integrity in all interactions. He left Champaign with school records in single-season receiving touchdowns, Memorial Stadium single-season receiving touchdowns (six), and Memorial Stadium career receiving touchdowns (13).
Bryant is the 258th NFL Draft pick in Illinois history is the Illini's eighth top-100 pick among the 12 NFL Draft selections during Bielema's four previous years at Illinois. Bielema has the most top-100 picks of any coach in Illini history during their first four seasons as head coach.
“Since the combine, I’ve been receiving phone calls on a daily basis about who he is and what he represents,” Bielema said on April 24 about Bryant. “Pat Bryant represented this place in so many different and positive ways.”
