George Paton adds to the brain trust in the Broncos’ front Office with a familiar face

George Paton continues to overhaul the Broncos’ front office, moving on from the previous regime’s voices in the room and replacing them with people he trusts and can help the Broncos win a Super Bowl. Paton hired Reed Burckhardt to be his Director of Player Personnel, replacing Darren Mougey-who was promoted to Assistant GM. Burckhardt will oversee the day-to-day duties of the pro and college scouting departments in the Broncos’ front office.

Moves like this don’t generate enough buzz, but I’ve always found it worthwhile to keep a track of these kinds of moves. Building up the talent in a front office is a key component in pursuing a Super Bowl, and it’s a shame that the buzz around these candidates and moves don’t generate a lot of moves and clicks despite fans complaining about front offices across the board every season.

Who is Reed Burckhardt? There’s not a lot out there (as is per usual with front office personnel), but here’s what 9News’s Mike Klis said about Burckhardt:

“A former backup quarterback at South Dakota State, Burckhardt had spent the previous 13 years with the Vikings – nearly 12 of those while working with Paton – and most recently had been their director of pro scouting. Although the Vikings had overhauled most of their front office this offseason, they wanted to keep Burckhardt.”

Here’s what I could find regarding Burckhardt. He was a 3-year letter winner as a backup QB with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits while the team was transitioning from a Division II squad into the FCS in Division I. Following his playing career at SDSU, Burckhardt went on to work with the coaching staff in a part-time position as a recruiting assistant and also helped with coaching the linebackers (two linebackers that year finished with All-Conference honors).

Burckhardt then went on to intern with the Vikings front office in 2009 and earned a full-time spot with the team in 2010. Burckhardt served as a college scout for the first few years of his tenure with the Vikings and then transitioned into serving as the team’s Blesto scout in 2014, a position he held till 2015. From 2010 to 2015, the Vikings drafted some notable talents like Everson Griffen, Kyle Rudolph, Matt Kalil, Harrison Smith, Sharrif Floyd, Xavier Rhodes, Cordarrelle Patterson, Anthony Barr, Teddy Bridgewater, Jerick McKinnon, Trae Waynes. Stefon Diggs, Eric Kendricks, and Danielle Hunter. Burckhardt then became the team’s Northeast/Atlantic region scout in the 2016 draft.

In 2017, Reed Burckhardt was named a Pro Scout for the team, a role he held till he was promoted to Assistant Director of Pro Scouting in 2020. During that time, the team signed players like Riley Reiff, Case Keenum, Latavius Murray, Kirk Cousins, Sheldon Richardson, George Iloka, and Michael Pierce. Burckhardt was promoted in 2021 to Director of Pro Scouting. Last offseason, the team signed notable players such as Dalvin Tomlinson, Patrick Peterson, Sheldon Richardson, Mackensie Alexander, Xavier Woods, Bashaud Breeland, and Dede Westbrook in free agency.

After working with George Paton in Minnesota for 12 years climbing his way up the ladder, Burckhardt gets a well-deserved promotion with the Denver Broncos. While there’s always some concern with front offices hiring familiar faces, Burckhardt’s resume is pretty solid and he’s a young face to add to a team going with plenty of youth throughout the program.

Either way, it feels safe to say the Broncos got smarter with this move.

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