ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton peppers the world “vision” liberally when talking about players’ skills and where they might fit on the roster.
That word illustrates Payton’s foundation when figuring out how someone fits in his gameplan. Some visions are immediately clear, while others, like the one for Broncos’ rookie tight end Caleb Lohner, might need time to come into focus.
Lohner was the final pick of the Broncos’ seven-player draft class last month, a seventh-round selection (No. 241 overall). And Denver’s decision-makers used a resume of 57 college football snaps and a significant helping of projection when deciding to take the former college basketball player.
“I just wanted an opportunity, and I genuinely believe that wherever I am … I’m going to do everything I can to help win,” Lohner said. “I know I don’t have a ton of football under my belt, but that’s exactly why I’m playing the game because I’ve developed a passion and love.”
Lohner played only one season of college football. Before those 57 snaps for Utah last season, he had not played the sport since middle school. He had four catches for Utah on nine targets in 2024, with all four receptions resulting in touchdowns.
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The rest of the 6-foot-6, 250-pounder’s profile consists of 153 college basketball games — 62 for BYU from 2020-22, 69 for Baylor from 2022-24 and 22 for Utah last season. He was not invited to the scouting combine but raised eyebrows at the Big 12’s pro day, where he ran a 4.69 40-yard dash to go with a 37-inch vertical jump. His 40 would have been tied for second fastest among tight ends who ran at the combine and his vertical would have been third best.
“You’re looking at a small amount of playing time and yet enough to where you’re watching them,” Payton said. “I think the other thing that helped was watching him at the Big 12 pro day. There were just a few plays that you see movement skills and it’s a lot to work with. If it turns out like the last one did, then we’d be really excited.”
Payton’s “last one” was Jimmy Graham, who the New Orleans Saints drafted in the third round in 2010. Graham, a five-time Pro Bowl selection with 719 career receptions and 89 career touchdowns, played 13 games for Miami’s football team in 2009 (17 receptions, five touchdowns) to go with four seasons with the Hurricanes’ basketball team. But Graham was far more on the draft radar in 2010 than Lohner was this year.
Graham measured at 6-6, 260 pounds at the combine and wowed scouts with a 4.56 40 and a 38-1/2-inch vertical jump. He went on to catch 35 passes in 15 games in his rookie season for the Saints before earning second-team All-Pro honors in 2011 with 99 receptions for 1,310 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Lohner’s Broncos path might closely resemble the one Julius Thomas, Denver’s second fourth-round pick in 2011, took. Thomas walked on at Portland State in 2010 after playing only one year of high school football. He played a school-record 121 games in four seasons of basketball for the Vikings, setting the school record for field goal percentage (.663) in helping Portland State to two Big Sky Conference titles and two NCAA tournament appearances.
In his only collegiate football season, Thomas had 29 catches, 453 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 15.6 yards per catch. Like Graham, Thomas had done enough to be invited to the combine, where he ran a 4.68 40 and had a 35 ½-inch vertical jump.
The day after the Broncos selected Thomas, then-general manager Brian Xanders said; “He’s got a big athletic upside, and if he can gain some weight and lift weights, he could be a 6-5, 260 [pound] guy that can run in a couple years here. We’re excited about him.”
Thomas took a couple years to emerge, as he combined for five receptions in nine games in 2011-12. But Thomas broke out with back-to-back 12-touchdown seasons in 2013 and 2014 as one of Peyton Manning’s most-trusted targets before signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency in 2015.
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So what kind of timetable will Lohner be on? The Broncos were drawn to his overall athletic skills and physicality, especially on red zone plays, which they saw as a glimpse into what he might provide early as he grows into the position.
“You look at the touchdown catches and, on a couple, he’s just overpowering the corner or the safety, a back down and an easy catch,” said an NFC general manager who hoped to sign Lohner as an undrafted free agent. “And one of our guys showed me some of his basketball [highlights] and he’s got some dunks you just have to pay attention to.”
Lohner was one of 30 prospects the Broncos hosted at their facility in the weeks before the draft. He joins a tight end room that didn’t produce much in 2024, as Lucas Krull led all Broncos tight ends with 19 receptions. Denver also signed veteran Evan Engram to a two-year deal in free agency, who Lohner can draw from as he adjusts to the NFL life.
“I just want to learn,” Lohner said. “I just want to be part of the game every day and develop the best way I can. Some [athletic traits] translate like jumping and high-pointing the ball, but there’s a lot that comes with football.
“I’m so excited to keep dissecting and keep getting into the fundamentals and technique and all these things that are going to help me be a great football player for the Broncos.”
