In his first year in the NFL, a 22-year-old C.J. Anderson’s days were filled with angst. Over reps. Over depth-chart status.

He played just five games in his rookie season in 2013, the undrafted running back lamenting in private that he could make this run or make this play or do this better than the RBs ahead of him in Denver.

And his chief counsel, amid games of pool or hours-long marathons of FIFA, was most often a 27-year-old Demaryius Thomas.

Then-Broncos RBs coach Eric Studesville rode Anderson hard in those days. He never could quite figure out why — until a year later, when he saw Studesville and Thomas yucking it up in a meeting room. And a lightbulb smacked Anderson, who became a Pro Bowler on Denver’s Super Bowl-winning 2015 team.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, that was DT, telling him everything that I was saying,’” Anderson recalled to The Denver Post on Wednesday. “And that’s why ‘E’ was pushing me.”

On Wednesday, the Broncos voted to enshrine the late, great Thomas in the club’s Ring of Fame. The five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver delivered all-time franchise plays on the game’s largest fields and quietly helped mold teammates like Anderson off of them. Thomas earned the honor in his very first year of eligibility, and just four years after dying at the age of 33.

“Demaryius Thomas’ election to the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame — in his first year of eligibility — is a testament to the indelible mark he left on our organization and community,” Broncos owners Greg Penner and Carrie Walton Penner said in a statement. “One of the most beloved players and greatest wide receivers in franchise history, Demaryius inspired our fans with breathtaking athleticism, record-setting performances and a joyful, infectious spirit.

“While we wish ‘D.T.’ was with us to celebrate this special moment, we look forward to honoring Demaryius alongside his Super Bowl 50 teammates during an unforgettable alumni weekend.”

Thomas, a 2010 first-round pick, joins an illustrious list of former Broncos to be elected in their first year of eligibility. The others: Quarterbacks John Elway and Peyton Manning, wide receiver Rod Smith, center Tom Nalen, tight end Shannon Sharpe, cornerback Champ Bailey, safety Steve Atwater and linebackers Randy Gradishar and Tom Jackson.

He is the sole member of the Broncos’ 2025 Ring of Fame class and the third former player to be elected since the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group purchased the team in 2022. The Broncos’ Ring of Fame committee includes the ownership group, former head coach Mike Shanahan, Atwater, play-by-play announcer Dave Logan and team historian Jim Saccomano.

Logan, who’s been calling Broncos games for over 35 years, called Thomas perhaps “the most humble superstar” he’d ever covered.

“Certainly a prolific receiver, and his numbers in that four- or five-year period when Peyton (Manning) was here rank among the absolute best in the game and the most dominant receivers to have played,” Logan told The Post. “Then you couple it with just the kind of person he was and you’ve got, to me, a real, real easy selection.”

Indeed, Thomas finished his career second in club history in receiving yards (9,055 yards) and touchdown catches (60). He authored one of the most famous catches in Broncos history — an 80-yard walk-off touchdown to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2011 AFC wild-card game — and was a critical member of the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 championship run.

In 2021, after ending his 10-year career with brief stints in Houston in 2018 and with the New York Jets in 2019, Thomas died shockingly in Roswell, Ga., in what the medical examiner there called “complications of seizure disorder.” Subsequent study of Thomas’ brain led to a 2022 announcement that Boston University researchers had diagnosed him with Stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease caused by repetitive head trauma.

Thomas’ mother, Katina Smith, said in a statement she’d told Broncos owner Greg Penner that “one of the things D.T. always said was he didn’t want to be forgotten when he was finished with the game.”

“It wasn’t just about football for him but how he wanted to be remembered as a person,” Smith said. “This will make Demaryius’ dream come true to be a part of the prestigious Denver Broncos Ring of Fame.

“It’s definitely going to be emotional and I am honored to represent him. I know D.T. is smiling in heaven with this exciting news that came out today.”

Thomas left a timeless impact on the Broncos franchise and in the memories of teammates. Bailey told The Post on Wednesday that Thomas “reignited” a new part of his career when he arrived in 2010.

“It’s heartbreaking to know that he won’t be able to see this, and all the many things he’s going to get recognition (for), over the years,” Bailey said. “Yeah, it sucks. But, I think, what do you do, as an organization? You move forward, you honor him … I think that’s what he would’ve wanted.

“I’m just glad they’re doing it. They’re understanding what he meant to the city, and to the team.”

Anderson burst with excitement at his induction, as he and other members of the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 team have been invited to a reunion weekend — and Thomas’ induction ceremony — around Denver’s Oct. 19 game against the New York Giants.

“Ultimate teammate, ultimate player, great person,” Anderson said. “Definitely gone way too soon. But I’m happy that he’s getting the opportunity to have his football career and his name enshrined in Broncos Country forever.”