Denver Broncos: Noah Fant quieted the doubters Sunday

In an up and down season, Denver Broncos’ tight end burst onto the national spotlight with a breakout performance against Cleveland.

There has been scrutiny and endless amounts of criticism involving Denver Broncos first-round pick Noah Fant. It is one thing to point out areas he needs to work on, but continuing to bring up the same points to support your narrative is wrong.

Fant shut up the doubters on Sunday with a jaw-dropping performance against the Cleveland Browns, catching three passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. The Browns on paper were a decent team, but Fant ran through them like they were parchment paper.

There have been critical drops this season, but there still have been moments where Fant has shown why he was a first-round pick as well. However, this was our first look at Fant for a full game of why the tight end has star potential.

At the University of Iowa, he made a living being like a wide receiver as a tight end. We saw this unfold Sunday when Denver played the Browns. Fant caught a pass from new quarterback Brandon Allen and for 75 yards, he would not be denied. After breaking three tackles, Fant ran 20 miles per hour down the sideline for the score.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1191115937572741120

That is an insane speed for a tight end. He did say after the game the way he carried the ball is a concern and he will correct it. If there was only one critique of that play from the Fant side of things that is it.

His next two catches were impressive also. Allen found Fant running a seam route up the middle of the field. There was no way Allen could lead Fant for more yardage but Fant did an incredible job letting the ball come to him to make the catch before getting more yards after the catch.

The last catch might be his best one of the day. It was during a rollout and Allen lobbed it perfectly to Fant who slid in bounds with great body control. The play was such that there was nothing a defender could do to stop it. It was a thoroughly enjoyable game for the former Hawkeye.

Even though the game against the Cleveland Browns was his breakout game, his confidence was continuing to grow from the game last Sunday. Fant made a strong impact run blocking and had a few catches for positive yards versus the Colts. But regarding his big-play ability and seeing what Fant can do after the catch, the Browns’ game was a sight to see.

Vic Fangio was happy for Fant and hopes it can put him over the top,

Personally, Fant receiving nothing but criticism is wrong and short-sighted. It is fixing commentary to fit their own narrative on the tight end because he is not meeting their standards.

The Denver Broncos tight end is on pace for over 500 yards which has him on an historic pace as far as first-year players at his position. It was never going to be immediate like other first-round picks. What we saw on display Sunday is the exact reason Fant was taken with the 20th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Despite what we saw on Sunday, I urge fans to continue to have patience regarding Noah Fant. His play Sunday is a sign of things to come, but fans must take it one game at a time and enjoy the ride.

Fans can be critical, but there are fine lines between staying critical and not pointing out any of the positives. Let’s just continue this Noah Fant ride together.