Sean Payton has definitely held onto the past during his current job with the Denver Broncos, and this latest rookie might be an indication of that. During his time with the New Orleans Saints, Payton helped build two Super Bowl-caliber teams.
The 2009 Saints team did come away with the Super Bowl, and the Saints era from 2017-2020 was filled with excellent squads. In his second head coaching stint in the NFL, he's helped build the Denver Broncos to be on the cusp of a juggernaut.
And that doesn't happen without hitting home-runs in the 2025 NFL Draft. Well, much of the chatter is usually surrounding a team's first-round pick, which makes sense, but did the Broncos get a huge steal in the seventh round?
Sean Payton might be a HUGE fan of Caleb Lohner
Here's Sean Payton talking about Broncos rookie tight end Caleb Lohner, who Payton did already talk about in the same breath as Jimmy Graham:
#Broncos 7th round draft pick Caleb Lohner is such an interesting player. Only played football for one year, only has four catches, and played five years of college basketball. Sean Payton talked about the traits he likes from the rookie, and the comparison to Jimmy Graham… pic.twitter.com/m7OQZsJknT
— Corey Rholdon (@Corey_RholdonTV) May 10, 2025
Lohner is a whopping 6'7" and 250 pounds. He's 24 years old and spent time at BYU, Baylor, and Utah while in college. He ran a 4.69 40-yard dash, so not only is the basketball background and size on his size, but he's also got some wicked speed for being as big as he is.
And I am sure when the Broncos were scouting Lohner, Sean Payton was absoultely thinking about Jimmy Graham, one of the best tight ends of the 21st century and a New Orleans Saints draft pick. The Denver Broncos do also have a top-tier coaching staff to be able to get the most out of Lohner.
Now yes, he was a seventh-round pick for a reason, but you simply cannot teach athleticism and size, which are two huge pillars of potentially being a high-end tight end in the NFL. Did the Denver Broncos just get the steal of the draft here?