ENGLEWOOD, Col. (ABC4 Sports) \u2013 When Caleb Lohner came to BYU to play basketball from Wasatch Academy, he had dreams of making it to the NBA.<\/p>\n
But after two years in Provo and two more at Baylor, Lohner was approached by coaches at Utah about trying to play football. The experiment worked. In his first experience playing football since eighth grade, Lohner had just four catches for the Utes in 2024, but all of them were for touchdowns. Lohner\u2019s physical attributes led the Denver Broncos to take a flyer on him in the seventh round of the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ve just been blessed with great people in my life, people that believed in my abilities,\u201d Lohner said after the Broncos rookie minicamp this past weekend. \u201cNow I\u2019m here, I\u2019m a Bronco, and my goal is just to help this team in any way that I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Utah tight end Caleb Lohner drafted in 7th round by Denver <\/a><\/p>\n Lohner, who played tight end for the Utes, is willing to do whatever it takes to make the team as he continues to learn the game.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing experience, an amazing opportunity,\u201d Lohner said. \u201cAll I want to do here is improve every day, learn the game of football, and I think this is the best place to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Basketball obviously as physical as football is, but at 6-foot-8, Lohner\u2019s ability to out-jump almost anybody on the field is a huge advantage.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think the athletic gifts that I have,\u201d Lohner said. \u201cI\u2019ve been blessed with height, obviously, and some of the other things that have allowed me to play sports my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has been impressed by Lohner, despite his lack of football experience.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a basketball player for most of his career,\u201d said Payton. \u201cHe plays a year of football, count the snaps, count the catches. I get it. Yet, you see traits, you see movements.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n When Payton was in New Orleans, he drafted Jimmy Graham, who, like Lohner, was a basketball player that had just one year of college football experience. All Graham did was go on to play 13 years in the NFL, becoming one of the best tight ends ever.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople bring up Jimmy, and now Jimmy was the third round pick,\u201d Payton said. \u201cI get it. But there were some similarities in that he only played a year. We\u2019ve got to coach and develop him. In other words, there\u2019s traits there that excite me.\u201d<\/p>\n