Broncos Draft Missouri TE Albert Okwuegbunam in Fourth Round

The Broncos added another fast skill-position player to the Drew Lock-led offense.

GM John Elway isn't messing around. If the Denver Broncos are going to knock the 800-pound gorilla that are the Kansas City Chiefs off their pedestal, Elway knows they'll have to fight fire with fire. 

Through the 2020 NFL Draft thus far, Elway has done his level-best to telegraph his intentions of building the nest around second-year QB Drew Lock and the trend continued in the fourth round on Saturday. 

With pick No. 118, the Broncos selected Missouri TE Albert Okwuegbunam. Here's what Elway said about the player on Twitter following the pick: 

We’ve selected Missouri TE Albert Okwuegbunam in the fourth round. Albert has a great combination of size and speed, running a 4.49, and can block & recover. He had a great year with Drew in ‘18 as an added bonus!

Here's some background on the player. Firstly, Okwuegbunam played two of his three seasons at Mizzou with Lock. In 2017 and 2018, Okwuegbunam caught 72 combined passes from Lock's right arm with 17 touchdowns. 

MIZ! Welcome to Denver Big Boi!@AOkwuegbunam 😎

— Drew Lock (@DrewLock23) April 25, 2020

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Okweugbunam's numbers dipped somewhat in 2019 with Lock playing in Denver but as a prospect, you have to drill deeper than the box score to unlock the caliber of weapon the Broncos drafted. For those fans shaking their head, thinking, "We have a logjam at tight end already! Why are we drafting another one?!!" — keep in mind the following. 

Okweugbunam runs a 4.49-second 40-yard dash, which is faster than last year's first-round pick Noah Fant (4.5s). Okweugbunam runs that fast at 6-foot-5 and 258 pounds. 

As it relates his size and athletic testing, Okweugbunam is among the upper-echelon of TEs to work out at the NFL Combine over the last few years. Explosive, dynamic, and maybe a little bit raw — but he's joining Broncos' TEs Coach Wade Harman who has a lot of experience developing young players into polished gems. 

It really helps that Lock has familiarity and ready-made chemistry with Okwuegbunam. It'll be interesting to see how the Broncos' TE depth chart ultimately takes shape later this summer, especially with the addition of Nick Vannett in free agency last month. 

Buckle up, Broncos Country. Elway is spelling it out plainly that the Broncos' offense will be teeming with weaponry. Pat Shurmur's offense is going to be a force to be reckoned with. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.