Broncos Had a Different TE in Mind on Draft Day, Insider Claims

The Denver Broncos had tight end very front-of-brain in the draft, but they may have had to formulate an alternative plan when one of their guys went off the board not long before going on the clock.

May 1, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles tight end Eli Stowers (87) runs drills during rookie minicamp at NovaCare Complex. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Entering the 2026 NFL draft, the Broncos were often linked to Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers in mock drafts around the web, and several other tight ends, like Ohio State's Max Klare, Georgia's Oscar Delp, and Texas A&M's Nate Boerkircher.

Initially holding the No. 62 overall pick, the board in Round 2 was falling nicely if the Broncos were thinking tight end, but within those last few picks before Denver was set to go on the clock, there was a veritable run on tight ends, with Stowers, Boerkircher, Klare, and even Michigan's Marlin Klein going off the board.

Broncos Liked Stowers

According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, had Stowers been there at No. 62, the Broncos would have considered drafting him. Instead, Denver traded back and out of Round 2.

"Denver explored taking a tight end somewhat early, but the board didn't fall that way. The Broncos would have considered Vanderbilt's Eli Stowers if he made it to No. 62 (he went eight picks earlier). But fifth-rounder Justin Joly out of N.C. State can be a pass-catching weapon. The Broncos really like his tape from 2024, when he played at a lighter weight," Fowler wrote.

Stowers was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 54 overall, closing the book on that possibility for Denver. Meanwhile, the Broncos went an entirely different direction at No. 66 overall, drafting Texas A&M defensive lineman Tyler Onyedim to help fill the hole opened up by John Franklin-Myers's departure.

Broncos Came Away With Two TEs

North Carolina State Wolfpack tight end Justin Joly (7) runs the ball against the East Carolina Pirates. | Scott Kinser / IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

What lends credence to Fowler's reporting is that Denver obviously had tight end heavily in mind. They not only took Joly in the fifth round, but also Utah's Dallen Bentley in the seventh, giving them two very different but talented tight ends.

"With Bentley, there’s a more in-line wide, bigger. He does a great job down the field," head coach Sean Payton said after the draft. "With Joly, that would put him more in the ‘F’ category. Both are tight ends, and both have unique skill sets. They’re different.”

Joly's 2024 Season

When it comes to Joly, I believe that Denver liked his 2024 tape and that it was one of the major factors in not only drafting him but trading up to land him in Round 5. He actually had fewer receptions in 2024 than he did last season, but way more yardage, catching 43 passes for 661 yards and four touchdowns.

In 2025, Joly posted 49 catches for 489 yards and seven touchdowns. With a little more weight on his body, he wasn't quite as explosive, but he was still a force to be reckoned with in the red zone, bumping his touchdown numbers year-over-year.

In 2024, Joly averaged a career-high 15.4 yards per reception, which is explosive for a tight end. That number dipped to 10.0 in 2025, which is still quite good, but the chunk yardage wasn't there.

In the NFL, everyone is bigger, stronger, and faster. Those catch-and-runs that seemed so easy at times for Joly in college, for example, will be much harder to come by at the next level.

For comparison's sake, Evan Engram has been one of the NFL's most explosive tight ends since entering the league in 2017, but he's only posted five seasons with a yards-per-reception metric higher than 10.0, and four of them came in his first four years. In his first year with the Broncos, he averaged 9.2 yards per catch.

But Engram is entering a contract year and is on the wrong side of 30, so the Broncos are now starting a succession plan, and it begins with Joly. It'll be interesting to see how Joly and Bentley develop this summer, and what the exact vision for them is, but you know that Sean Payton has something brewing.

The Takeaway

Some fans will wonder what may have been if Stowers had landed in Denver, but it's all water under the bridge now. The NFL draft is a crapshoot, and it becomes more and more unpredictable the farther you get from the No. 1 overall pick.

The Broncos had to zig and zag, but they ultimately landed seven players in the draft, getting excellent value throughout. It's going to be fun to see these new Broncos take shape as pros.

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