Good Morning, Broncos Country!<\/p>\n
With their final pick in the 2025 NFL Draft<\/a>, the Denver Broncos<\/a> selected Utah tight end Caleb Lohner in the 7th round. He is a bit of a project, though, since he has just played one year of football, caught just four passes (all of which were touchdowns), and is transitioning from basketball to football.<\/p>\n He is a bit of a project considering his overall lack of experience, but the size, athleticism, and untapped potential are obvious. While it\u2019s not an apples-to-apples comparison, Payton and the Broncos are hoping they’ve found the next Jimmy Graham here in Caleb Lohner. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard, going back with Jimmy Graham, I think he had 14, 15 catches. Both of them had a season. Both of them were very good basketball players. Now in Jimmy\u2019s case, there was a lot more. He was a Combine invite. We\u2019re late in this draft, and you\u2019re rooting for some guys and you see upsides in 6\u20197\u201d, 245 pounds. You can see the basketball skill set, that\u2019s easy, at a high level. Then you\u2019re looking at a small amount of playing time, and yet enough to where you\u2019re watching them. I think the other thing that helped was watching him at the Big 12 Pro Day. There were just a few plays where you see movement skills, and it\u2019s a lot to work with. If it turns out like the last one did, then we\u2019d be really excited\u201d.<\/p>\n Comparing Lohner to Graham is a bit unfair, but it will be hard to avoid considering the backgrounds, what positions they play, and their connection to Sean Payton. Payton does mention Lohner\u2019s size and how his basketball background is obvious on the field. He has the ability to box out defenders and use his size and athleticism to get the ball at its highest point and show the potential he has in the red zone. <\/p>\n Not only does Lohner have red zone upside, but he is also a fluid athlete who can run routes and moves well in space. Payton mentioned how this stood out to him when watching his limited tape and while he worked out during the Big 12 Pro Day. <\/p>\n Coming back to the Jimmy Graham comparison, Payton referenced him again when he said, \u201cIf it(Lohner) turns out like the last one did (Graham), then we\u2019d be really excited\u201d. <\/p>\n Yes. Yes, we would be very excited. <\/p>\n Lohner\u2019s development will be one of the more intriguing stories to follow throughout the remainder of the offseason and into training camp and the preseason. Hopefully, the Broncos found a hidden gem here, and he can contribute to the Broncos sooner rather than later. <\/p>\n Horse Tracks<\/p>\n Trade Suggestion Grants Broncos Travis Etienne – Yahoo Sports<\/a> Ed McCaffrey On Denver Broncos Entering 2025 Season: \u2018They\u2019re Going To Be Contenders\u2019<\/a> Friend of John Elway: ‘The grieving has really just begun’ | FOX31 Denver<\/a> John Elway’s business partner, ex-agent dies from fall injuries – ESPN<\/a> Chargers decline OG Zion Johnson’s fifth-year option – NBC Sports<\/a> Malik Nabers: If I’m getting open and not getting ball, we’ve got a problem – NBC Sports<\/a> Source: Shedeur Sanders approached pre-draft process like he was being “recruited,” not “interviewed” – NBC Sports<\/a> Stephen A. Smith sensed ESPN wouldn’t let Shannon Sharpe remain on the air – NBC Sports<\/a> Nick Bosa, Trent Williams at 49ers’ offseason program to help teach “the standard” – NBC Sports<\/a> Roger Goodell declines invitation to appear before Senate hearing on streaming – NBC Sports<\/a> Patriots QB Drake Maye ‘pumped’ to play behind Will Campbell after first-round OT’s viral draft moment<\/a> Top 10 games of 2025 season: Chiefs-Bills, Vikings-Seahawks rank high on upcoming NFL schedule<\/a> Packers’ Matt LaFleur on ‘beef’ with Bears’ new coach: ‘I don’t know Ben Johnson’<\/a> Amari Cooper landing spots: Cowboys, Eagles among seven best team fits for top free-agent WR<\/a> Jalen Ramsey landing spots: Which teams could trade for seven-time Pro Bowl CB?<\/a>
A trade idea pairs the Denver Broncos with a former first round receiving back, who may be expendable.<\/p>\n
Ed McCaffrey on why the Denver Broncos will be contenders in 2025: “They got the quarterback of the future and the defense was phenomenal.”<\/p>\n
An acquaintance of Broncos legend John Elway is shedding some light on the grief the former quarterback is going through after a tragic golf cart accident claimed the life of his close friend.<\/p>\n
Jeff Sperbeck, the longtime friend, business partner and former agent of John Elway, has died from injuries suffered when he fell off a golf cart reportedly being driven by the Hall of Fame quarterback.<\/p>\n
The Chargers<\/a> did not exercise the fifth-year option on the contract of offensive lineman Zion Johnson, Daniel Popper of TheAthletic.com reports.<\/p>\n
Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers didn’t do much to hide his frustrations when the ball didn’t come his way during his rookie season and it doesn’t sound like he’ll be any more circumspect in his second season.<\/p>\n
Pre-draft chatter about prospects can be strategic.<\/p>\n
Hall of Fame tight end and media personality Shannon Sharpe stepped aside from his two-days-per-week employment with ESPN, in the aftermath of the filing of a civil complaint against him alleging sexual assault and other claims.<\/p>\n
The 49ers<\/a> turned over their roster this offseason.<\/p>\n
The Senate Finance Committee will be holding a hearing on Tuesday regarding the ongoing migration of sports from broadcast TV to streaming.<\/p>\n
The first offensive lineman taken off the board, Will Campbell told NFL Network’s Jamie Erdahl that he’s “gonna fight and die to protect” Drake Maye. The Patriots quarterback, last year’s No. 3 overall pick, loved to hear it.<\/p>\n
Will Josh Allen’s Bills once again get the best Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs in the regular season? Can Sam Darnold lead the Seahawks<\/a> over his former team, the Vikings? Kevin Patra ranks his top 10 matchups of the 2025 NFL season.<\/p>\n
Asked in a recent episode of the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast, Packers<\/a> coach Matt LaFleur cheekily dismissed questions about new Bears coach Ben Johnson.<\/p>\n
The highest remaining player on Gregg Rosenthal’s Top 101 free agents list is veteran wideout Amari Cooper. Where might Cooper land? NFL.com senior news writer Kevin Patra offers up seven potential landing spots.<\/p>\n
The 2025 NFL Draft came and went without the Miami Dolphins<\/a> trading Jalen Ramsey, but that doesn’t mean a deal won’t happen in the future. NFL.com’s Nick Shook examines potential landing spots for the seven-time Pro Bowl<\/a> CB.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good Morning, Broncos Country! With their final pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos selected Utah…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[3937,232,1700,231,258,1151,2426,7,29,5299,1149,3312,4366,142,2030,3599,1148,3551,6,3440,1150,3686,714,1124],"class_list":{"0":"post-22883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-be","9":"tag-broncos","10":"tag-caleb","11":"tag-denver","12":"tag-denver-broncos","13":"tag-denver-broncos-news","14":"tag-denverbroncos","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-front-page","17":"tag-graham","18":"tag-high","19":"tag-his","20":"tag-hoping","21":"tag-is","22":"tag-jimmy","23":"tag-lohner","24":"tag-mile","25":"tag-next","26":"tag-nfl","27":"tag-payton","28":"tag-report","29":"tag-sean","30":"tag-te","31":"tag-will"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114449087632702554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}