Denver Broncos: Why Noah Fant is a top five tight end

Noah Fant, a 23-year-old, 249-pound tight end for the Denver Broncos will be entering his third season with the expectations of a massive leap. Fant showed flashes of extensive route running in his first two seasons that give the Broncos hope on what they envisioned for when they wrote his name down to be drafted with the 20th overall pick.

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The tight-end position continues to change and adapt into more of a receiver role vs. an added lineman to block and there’s no secret that Fant fits the new modern-day mole. Many have a hard time picking who should be top-five at the tight end position with some already including rookie Kyle Pitts who has yet to even lace up on an NFL-level field.

As of now, there are two that are interchangeable which are Travis Kelce and George Kittle, but the final three to round out the top 5 is debatable. There’s Darren Waller, Mark Andrews, TJ Hockenson, Mike Gesicki, and of course Fant all in the mix. Many of these tight ends we’ve seen what their ceiling is, but with Fant, the potential speaks for itself despite some bad narratives.

The biggest question mark surrounding Fant’s game is staying on the field, however, starting 25 out of 31 games shows the flaw in that narrative.

In those 25 games, Fant has caught 102 balls out of 159 targets for a catch rate percentage of 64.2. In those 25 games he has only six touchdowns with 1235 yards, however, much like the flaw in playing time than playing with six different quarterbacks in only 25 games plays a role.

There’s no denying when Fant is on he’s hard to stop, and an example of that came in two games of his rookie campaign, one where he had 115 receiving yards on four catches with an explosive 75-yard touchdown and the other 113 receiving yards on four catches with a highlight-reel 48-yard gain.

Those two performances as well as setting the Denver Broncos record in receptions, and receiving yards for a rookie tight-end earned Fant Pro-Football Writers Association All-Rookie honors.

This upcoming season Fant will have much more opportunity with the quarterback position expected to be at a more consistent level. Fant will also have the advantage of playing in A more open offense to gift him the thrown balls his talent deserves. These reasons and coming in more experienced this upcoming season could not only leap Fant into the pro-bowl but in the top 5 conversations.

Be sure to keep with Predominantly Orange as we continue coverage on Noah Fant and everything else Denver Broncos-related.