INDIANAPOLIS — If you’re a tight end in the 2025 NFL draft, chances are the Denver Broncos want to speak with you.
That’s because the Broncos have interviewed virtually every notableTE prospect at this week’s Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, including presumptive first-round selections Tyler Warren of Penn State and Colston Loveland of Michigan.
The team has also met with Texas’ Gunnar Helm, Clemson’s Jake Briningstool, Miami’s Elijah Arroyo, and Oregon’s Terrance Ferguson.
Warren is the clear-cut TE1 of this year’s class after breaking out for career highs in receptions (104), yards (1,233), and touchdowns (8) during the 2024 season. He was voted first-team All-American and took home the John Mackey Award as the nation’s top player at his position.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, Warren is widely expected to be off the board when they’re on the clock at pick No. 20 overall. A recent mock draft from Pro Football Network slotted the 6-foot-6, 249-pounder to the New York Jets with the seventh choice.
Loveland is the more realistic target and the potential fix-it to Denver’s lack of an offensive “Joker” — that is, according to head coach Sean Payton, an elite pass-catcher. A former national champion, Loveland caught 117 balls for the Wolverines from 2022-2024. He’s drawn comparisons to Lions Pro Bowler Sam LaPorta.
“Sean Payton has made no secret of his team’s offseason mission to boost the skill-position talent surrounding Bo Nix,” USA Today’s Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz wrote Wednesday. “No matter whether the coach sees Loveland as his coveted “joker” who can exploit mismatches in the passing game, the tight end can help Nix continue to develop as a deep and intermediate passer after the team afforded the quarterback more and more responsibility throughout his promising rookie campaign.”
Should they opt for a different direction on Day 1, bypassing Warren and Loveland, the Broncos would likely target one of the other aforementioned TEs — Arroyo, Helm, Briningstool, or Ferguson — in the following rounds.
It’s the league’s worst-kept secret.
“When you pick [No.] 20, it’s not as easy to say, ‘We’re going to find that,'” Payton told reporters on Tuesday. “That player can be a running back or tight end. Yet, it’s just something that we are mindful of as we look at both the draft and free agency. I use that term for when you have one of those guys who are matchup challenges inside, it really helps you [in] third down and [in the] red zone. There are ways defensively you can handle the outside receivers and force the ball inside. That is something we will look closely at.”
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