Von Miller Hypes Up Broncos' TE Noah Fant as his 'Favorite Guy on the Team'
Noah Fant is coming off a solid second year with the Denver Broncos. Joining the team as a 2019 first-round draft pick, Fant stepped into the full-time starting role at tight end last season and finished with 62 receptions for 673 yards and three touchdowns.
Entering Year 3, Fant is poised to have a true break-out year despite the tragic loss of his mother, who passed away earlier this month. Among the teammates that showed up to support Fant at his mother's funeral were leaders like Drew Lock and Von Miller.
Amid the emotional pain and anguish, the gifted tight end reported for voluntary OTAs on Monday and it didn't take long for the face of the Broncos to notice something a little different about him.
"Noah Fant is my favorite guy on the team," Miller said. "I want to tell all you guys that. Noah Fant, I’m super excited about this guy. He’s buff, he’s strong. I think he’s going into Year 3 now and he just looks like a beast."
Fant is an absolute specimen. Checking in at 6-foot-4 and 249 pounds, he brings 4.5-speed to the Broncos' offense, which has the potential to bust the seam and middle of the field wide open.
Aside from some of the finer nuances of transitioning from 'Tight End U' at Iowa to the NFL, Fant needed to continue building his pro body and hone his blocking skills. Once the blocking acumen is mastered, he'll be one of the most dynamic tight ends in the league.
All that's left is for Fant to be blessed with an offensive coordinator that knows how to feed and feature him within a unit replete with star playmakers at the skill positions, and an on-point triggerman at quarterback to distribute the ball.
Whatever offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur lacked last year in a clear vision for utilizing Fant, hopefully, can be made up for by having him (and all the players) in the scheme for a second straight year. In the same way fans hope Drew Lock will benefit from playing in the same offensive system in back-to-back years, Shurmur will benefit from having that full season under his belt of scheming and strategizing around studs-in-waiting like Fant.
Miller is geeked up about Fant but he's also excited to see what the Broncos can accomplish in their two-tight end sets once Albert Okwuegbunam makes his full recovery back from a torn ACL. 'Albert O' is 6-foot-5 and 258 pounds, yet ran a 4.49-second 40-yard dash at last year's NFL Combine. He's a freak in his own right.
"I was excited when we picked Noah, and you can kind of see everything coming together for Noah and ‘Albert O’—both of those guys," Miller said. "You can kind of have that [former NFL TE] Aaron Hernandez and [Buccaneers TE Rob] Gronkowski-type of 12 package with those guys."
Fant's spot atop the Broncos' tight end depth chart is unquestioned but Lock can't say the same. He's just getting started in a competition with the newly acquired veteran Teddy Bridgewater to decide who starts at QB and leads this team in 2021.
Without throwing any kind of support one QB's way or another, Miller was clearly encouraged by the edition of Bridgewater and views the competition as something that will ultimately bless the Broncos with better play at the position.
Aside from better coaching in critical situations, all this team really needs is that dynamic quarterback to step onto the scene and be that tide that raises the talented ships on the Broncos' offense that have in some ways been squandered by less-than-stellar play at the position.
I’m not saying that this guy’s going to be the No. 1 guy, or this guy’s going to be the No. 1 guy," Miller said. "I’m not saying that yet, but we have a healthy quarterback competition that can only give us positive things out of that group. Teddy’s been a great vet for a long time. He’s been able to play and lead his teams to wins. It’d be great to have him in there with Drew and Brett Rypien and just push the guys. I’m just excited. They’ve got a lot of weapons there. They’ve got Noah Fant, [WRs] Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton and all of those guys."
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