{"id":778866,"date":"2026-02-27T01:42:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T01:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/778866\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T01:42:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T01:42:19","slug":"after-barely-playing-football-prior-to-arriving-at-wyoming-te-john-michael-gyllenborg-is-an-nfl-prospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/778866\/","title":{"rendered":"After barely playing football prior to arriving at Wyoming, TE John Michael Gyllenborg is an NFL prospect"},"content":{"rendered":"

INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 It\u2019s less than 500 miles from John Michael Gyllenborg\u2019s home in the Kansas City, Mo., area to Indianapolis, but several years ago his road from there to the NFL scouting combine would have been best measured in light years.<\/p>\n

Gyllenborg didn\u2019t play tackle football until he was a senior at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City in 2020, and he went out simply for fun. His primary sports were baseball and basketball and his goal was to play basketball at a Division II or NAIA college.<\/p>\n

Instead, Gyllenborg ended up earning a scholarship to play football at Wyoming. And now he is at the combine in Indianapolis while being projected to be a late-round pick in the April 23-25 draft in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty crazy to think about, to reflect on that kind of journey,\u2019\u2019 he said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Gyllenborg slowly worked his way up at Wyoming to become an NFL prospect. He redshirted in 2021 and caught just three passes in 2022. But over the past three seasons, he had 77 receptions for 1,021 yards including 24 for 217 yards during an injury-riddled 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n

\"\"Wyoming tight end John Michael Gyllenborg (84) walks on the field during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Washington State, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo\/Young Kwak)<\/p>\n

Being 6-foot-5, 225 pounds and considered to have an intriguing upside, Gyllenborg has caught the eyes of a number of NFL teams. The Broncos have talked to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Broncos, like any other team, would be an absolute dream to play for,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

Gyllenborg couldn\u2019t have dreamed in 2020 even coming close to the NFL. He had played flag football until the fourth grade, and then his grandfather, who is now deceased, didn\u2019t want him to play tackle ball. So he instead focused on baseball and basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my senior year, we got a new football coach at my high school, Kelly Donohoe,\u2019\u2019 Gyllenborg said. \u201cHe was pinching me with, basically, \u2018Come out and have fun with the boys senior year.\u2019 It was COVID. There\u2019s no pressure. Just come out and have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gyllenborg played wide receiver in the first three games before suffering an injury that ended his season. But he showed enough for Wyoming to offer him a scholarship, the only football offer he received.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Donohoe was kind of like, \u2018If you\u2019re tall and fast and you can keep speed and put on some weight and develop at Wyoming, you\u2019d be pretty good,\u2019\u2019\u2019 Gyllenborg said. \u201cI liked the thought of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gyllenborg might be regarded as an even better prospect had he not been bogged down by a hamstring injury in 2025. He missed three games and was hampered in several others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was pretty brutal to work with towards the beginning of the year,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cBut all you can do at that point is put your head down, grind the rehab, trust the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"American Team tight end John Michael Gyllenborg (84), of Wyoming, runs through drills during practice for the Senior Bowl NCAA college football game Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo\/Butch Dill)<\/p>\n

Gyllenborg wasn\u2019t hampered off the field, with the finance major having earned a bachelor\u2019s degree and a master\u2019s in business during his five years at Wyoming. And now he can show off his athletic skills at combine workouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m blessed to be gifted with the gifts that I have of being tall and fast, especially for my size,\u2019\u2019 Gyllenborg said. \u201cThose kind of things matter in this sport, and I\u2019m excited to showcase it a little bit (Friday).\u201d<\/p>\n

Good grades for Broncos<\/p>\n

The Broncos got mostly good marks in team report cards researched by the NFL Players Association.<\/p>\n

The grades were made public in previous years until the NFL complained, forcing the union to stop releasing them. However, Denver\u2019s 850 KOA radio obtained and first reported the Broncos\u2019 grades. Players on the team did the grading, with their contributions being anonymous. ESPN reported the Broncos were 10th overall in NFL grades.<\/p>\n

\"\"Carrie and Greg Penner, co-owners of the Denver Broncos, visit the field during the pregame against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2026. (The Gazette, Jerilee Bennett)<\/p>\n

The team got an A-plus for the Walton-Penner ownership group; grades of A for general manager George Paton, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, strength coaches, training staff, weight room, food-dining area and home game field; grades of A-minus for since-fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, training room and team travel; a B-plus for nutrition-dietician; grades of B for head coach Sean Payton, position coaches and treatment of families; and a D for locker room.<\/p>\n

However, the locker room situation will be rectified when construction on a new facility at Broncos Park is complete this spring.<\/p>\n

McNeil-Warren thrilled with Broncos meeting<\/p>\n

Payton this week called \u201cmusts\u201d for needs during the offseason being at inside linebacker, tight end and running back. While he didn\u2019t mention safety, perhaps the Broncos could use a high pick on that position.<\/p>\n

The Broncos hold the No. 30 pick in the draft. Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, expected to be a late first-round or early second-round pick, said Thursday he had a formal interview at the combine with Denver.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt went well,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cIt went great. I love the Broncos. I love their coaching staff. Everything went great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Toledo defensive back Emmanuel McNeil-Warren (40) answers questions during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay)<\/p>\n

The Broncos look to be set for 2026 with starting safeties Talanoa Hufanga, who was named second-team All-Pro, and Brandon Jones. However, top reserve P.J. Locke will be a free agent next month and it is uncertain if he will return.<\/p>\n

Broncos linemen won\u2019t lose Jordan<\/p>\n

Pass-rush specialist B.T. Jordan is changing teams, but he told The Denver Gazette he still will be permitted to work with Broncos defensive linemen Zach Allen and John Franklin-Myers during the offseason.<\/p>\n

Jordan was hired by Dallas as a consultant after working as a Denver consultant for several years. Allen and Franklin-Myers, who regularly have worked out with Jordan during the offseason, have talked about how much he has helped them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 It\u2019s less than 500 miles from John Michael Gyllenborg\u2019s home in the Kansas City, Mo., area…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[232,231,258,2426,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-778866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-broncos","9":"tag-denver","10":"tag-denver-broncos","11":"tag-denverbroncos","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116140059967775104","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778866","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=778866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}