NFL Draft Experts Keep Mocking One Position to Broncos in Round 1

The Denver Broncos have a clear need here.

Dec 7, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions tight end Tyler Warren (44) runs for a gain against the Oregon Ducks during the second quarter in the 2024 Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

As the Denver Broncos push for the playoffs for the first time in a long time, there is a blatant hole on the offensive side of the football. We have a long way to go until the 2025 NFL draft, but that doesn't stop the mock drafts.

Draftniks are consistently mocking two prospects to the Broncos because they could fill out that obvious hole. Those two players are Penn State's Tyler Warren and Michigan's Colston Loveland, both of whom are tight ends. 

Before getting into the two prospects, let’s consider why this is such an obvious hole for the Broncos. It starts with Sean Payton's history of making the tight end an integral part of the offense.

He's had multiple elite tight ends as an offensive coordinator and head coach during his coaching career. The Broncos don’t have that tight end. 

The Broncos had hoped Greg Dulcich could turn into that player, but his recent release ended that. Adam Trautman is a solid depth player, but he hasn’t stepped into being the top guy. Nate Adkins has been a contributor as a blocker. At the same time, Lucas Krull isn’t this great weapon at the position many fans hoped he'd be, though he has been reliable depth. 

This season, the Broncos' four tight ends, including Dulcich, combined for 34 catches and 49 targets for 356 yards and three touchdowns. Those numbers are lower than what you want from your top tight end, let alone a group of four.

In fact, there are 18 individual tight ends with more targets, 23 with more catches, 25 with more yards, and eight with more touchdowns. The Broncos need to get more out of the position; hence, early mock drafts giving them a tight end. 

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The Prospects

Warren has that prototypical size you look for in a tight end and has had an outstanding season as a receiver, with 88 catches for 1,062 yards and six touchdowns. While he isn’t the most consistent blocker, he's shown enough in that area to work with and develop. He has all the tools and traits you want to work with and grow, and he could be that top guy for the Broncos tight end room right away. 

Loveland has 56 catches for 582 yards, but unlike Warren, he has two years of consistent production, with 101 receptions for 1,231 yards and nine touchdowns over the last pair of seasons. He has excellent size and athleticism for the position and has shown more reliability and consistency as a blocker, though not the same caliber of weapon in the passing game as Warren. It makes for a good conversation between the two players. 

While recency bias may detract from this, as with how Brock Bowers did this year and Sam LaPorta a year ago, rookie tight ends don’t typically make a significant impact. Those two are exceptions to the rule, as it takes two to three years for them to reach their potential and substantially impact the game.

However, both Loveland and Warren have the traits to be impactful players in Payton’s scheme right away, and they'd become significant weapons for Bo Nix. Either of them could be that player needed to help take Nix’s game to the next level and fill in the missing piece holding this offense back this season.

The fact that Denver's offense is being held back by the lack of an actual tight-end threat should scare opponents and entice fans with anticipation of the team filling that void. 

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