ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — There weren't many plays to evaluate.
Caleb Lohner, the Broncos' newest tight end, had played just one year of football at Utah entering the 2025 NFL Draft. After a four-year collegiate basketball career, Lohner made the switch to football and saw limited action during 12 games in 2024.
"Fifty-seven plays," General Manager George Paton said Saturday following the end of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Fifty-seven plays, yes. And just four catches. But all four catches resulted in touchdowns, and three of them came from at least 11 yards out.
So while there weren't a ton of plays to watch, there were enough.
"We're late in this draft and you're rooting for some guys, and you see upside," Head Coach Sean Payton said of Denver's seventh-round pick. "He's 6-[foot]-7, 245. You can see the basketball skill set — that's easy — at a high level. You're looking at a small amount of playing time, and yet enough to where you're watching him. I think the other thing that helped was watching him at the Big 12 Pro Day. There's just a few plays that you see movement skills — and man, there's a lot to work with.
Lohner said he hopes to continue improving his fundamentals and technique in Denver, but he also noted "God gave me certain gifts when it comes to my athleticism and size." And from a skill-set perspective, Lohner said several areas of his basketball game can help in a football setting.
Payton acknowledged the Broncos are "projecting" as they bring Lohner into their program, but the traits are intriguing.
"His movement skills and his height, weight, his eye-hand coordination — yeah, there's a lot of developmental upside, and we're excited about that," Payton said.
Payton, of course, has seen that sort of upside pay off in the past.
Jimmy Graham had just 17 catches in his lone college season at Miami after his basketball career, and the Saints acquired him in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Graham's traits — which helped him record 213 yards and five touchdowns in college — translated in major fashion to the NFL level.
In a 13-year NFL career, Graham recorded five Pro Bowl nods and a first-team All-Pro selection in 2013.
"If it turns out like the last one did, then we'd be real excited," Payton said.
'YOU LOOK FOR TRAITS'
On Day 3 of the NFL Draft, the Broncos' selections of Lohner and fourth-round pick Que Robinson were as much about their potential as their production.
Robinson came on strong in his final season as an edge rusher at Alabama, posting a career-high seven tackles for loss and four sacks to more than double his previous career production. While he missed the final few games of the season due to injury — one he says he has since fully recovered from — the potential in his final year was evident.
"We've been seeing flashes of him the last four years at Alabama," Paton said. "Really, the last two [years] on defense. But you look throughout the career, just the special teams play. I think he had 16 special teams tackles maybe the last two years. You just see the athletic traits, the athletic ability, the length, the speed, the way he plays, the motor he plays with. He's played behind some really good outside 'backers — Will Anderson, Dallas Turner, guys like that. So, [he] wasn't playing a whole lot.
"This year, it kind of clicked on defense and then obviously had the injury. He has all the traits you look for at that position and yet in the meantime he can be a hardcore special teamer. So that's what attracted us to him."
Payton said the mark of a strong draft class is how the later draft picks perform, and he noted the Broncos are "anxious to see how they evolve" as both Robinson and Lohner get to Denver. During the evaluation process, though, there was enough to convince the Broncos to draft the pair of intriguing players.
"They both had enough flashes that you could project what they could be at their highest level," Paton said. "We liked what we saw on both."
ADDING A SPECIALIST
As Paton evaluated the addition of punter Jeremy Crawshaw, he said his strength in a number of different areas made him their top-ranked player at the position.
"We felt he was the best punter in the draft," Paton said. "I think he was the only one drafted. Big kid, athletic. Grew up playing rugby, cricket. This guy's got a really big leg. You look at his gross [average] that he's had the last couple years. The net [average] wasn't as high this year as in the past. We feel like he can do everything — punt for distance, directionally, controlled hang. Really good holder, good teammate. We feel really strong about him."
