Noah Fant Puts Finger on Key Missing Ingredient in Broncos' Offense: 'Consistency'
In the second week of the 2021 offseason, the Denver Broncos are deep into their search for a new general manager. The final three candidates are Minnesota's George Paton, New Orleans' Terry Fontenot, and Chicago's Champ Kelly. Only Paton and Fontenot have garnered a second interview, though.
“I see the dominoes falling within the next 24-48 hours," 9NEWS' Klis reported on Monday.
Whoever the Broncos' new GM ends up being, he will undoubtedly have an abundance of work and player evaluations to conduct. One player that has the folks at UCHealth Training Center beaming with optimism is TE Noah Fant. The second-year player was a consistent and reliable weapon for a Broncos offense in 2020 and caught passes from three different quarterbacks throughout the season.
On Monday, the 23-year-old tight end joined 104.3 The Fan’s Stokley and Zach for his final appearance of The Noah Fant Show to discuss the GM vacancy, the 2020 season, and how he plans to attack the offseason. Suffice to say, Fant was as surprised as fans to see John Elway relinquish GM duties.
“I really didn’t see it coming. I thought everything in the front office was going to stay pretty much stay the same,” Fant told hosts Brandon Stokley and Zach Bye. “Mr. Elway is still going to be involved and they’re bringing in another mind, another guy, I think it’s a good idea. It can’t hurt. I think they’ve done a good job so far, and I’m excited to see who they pick. I think it should be good.”
While Fant is optimistic about what the next GM can do to help the Broncos, change isn't necessarily cure-all. It was just last January that Rich Scangarello was fired and replaced by Pat Shurmur as offensive coordinator. Although the Broncos didn't have a crystal ball, the timing couldn’t have been worse as the world was soon after hit with the COVID-19 pandemic last spring, which put the kybosh on a traditional offseason training program, killed the entire preseason, and severely truncated training camp for Denver's young players and coaches acclimating to a new offense.
In the first year of Shurmur’s offense, the Broncos were ranked bottom-third in most major categories. Denver finished No. 23 in the in total yards (335.6) and 28 in the league in points per game (20.2). This, after such high hopes for the Broncos' offense in 2020 with Drew Lock under center and the arsenal of weapons at his disposal. So, what was missing from the equation?
Fant's read was circumspect. “It’s consistency," the tight end told The Fan.
One of the two C-word talking points fans have heard from the Broncos since before the season end; consistency and continuity. Fant elaborated.
“I’ve been saying that since Week 3. That’s the biggest thing that I notice from our offense," Fant told Stokley and Bye. "It’s not just one person, it’s from everybody, right? Myself included. We’ve got to be consistent. I was watching the [Buffalo] Bills play in their playoff game and that just what their offense does so good. K.C. is another one. They’re consistent all the time and they’re constantly moving the ball down the field. Constantly putting points on the board. They put up a good game. I think that’s the biggest thing that we’re missing. That’s the biggest thing we need to improve on.”
Of the six tight ends that suited up for Denver, Fant had the lion's share of the snaps with 733, playing for much of the season with an injured ankle. He ended his second year in the NFL with 62 receptions for 673 yards, and three touchdowns while averaging 10.9 yards per catch and picking up 34 first downs.
After an impressive rookie season that earned him a selection to the 2019 All-Rookie Team and a quality sophomore showing, the expectations for Fant in in 2021 continue to rise. Fant will remain focused on improving his game but first thing's first; he's got to get healthy and shake that nagging ankle injury.
“First thing, I just want to get healthy and get my ankle figured out,” Fant told Stokley and Zach. “Usually, the month of January I take off and let my body fully heal. Let it heal up and do all the things that I need to do for it. From there, I want to continue to add some more lean body mass. Continue working in the run game and I want to work on change of direction stuff. Lateral speed and things like that.”
With head coach Vic Fangio saying he ‘anticipates’ his coaching staff to return in full for the 2021 season, there’s certainly a reason for Fant to feel more comfortable in the second year in Shurmur’s offense, especially since the OC started the beginning of his coaching career as an Andy Reid disciple coaching tight ends for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The offseason couldn’t come at a better time for Fant. In a division rich with tight end talent featuring the likes of Kansas City's Travis Kelce, Las Vegas' Darren Waller, and Los Angeles' Hunter Henry, the former Iowa Hawkeye has an opportunity to show he belongs as one of the NFL’s elite playmakers at the position. And when it comes to canceling the offseason due to the pandemic, miss Fant with that. He wants the reps.
“I definitely need an offseason,” Fant said in regards to the recent rumblings from the NFLPA of not needing an offseason. As a young player surrounded by young teammates on offense, every rep is a "down payment" on the regular season, according to Fant.
“I don’t know what everybody else is talking about, but I use the offseason like nobody else," Fant told The FAN. "I feel like that’s when you put your down payment in for the season. I need that offseason so bad. As an offense included, we need that time to get that chemistry and get those reps and things like that. Those are times you can’t really make up for once you just jump into a season. I definitely think that I need an offseason and that we need an offseason as a Broncos offense.”
Follow Luke on Twitter @LukePattersonLP and @MileHighHuddle.
