Denver Broncos tight end Noah Fant suffers mild left lower leg injury

Denver Broncos tight end Noah Fant will not play in their preseason contest on Saturday against the LA Rams due to a lower left leg injury, according to NFL Network’s James Palmer.

Fant has missed three consecutive practices due to the injury, but Denver head coach Vic Fangio said he’s not expected to miss any time in the regular season, according to a tweet from DenverBroncos.com’s Aric DiLalla.

Fant played 21 snaps against the Seahawks last Saturday.

In the 2020 season, Fant hauled in 62 catches for 673 yards, while hauling in three touchdown catches.

Metrics Monster

Noah Fant is blessed with workout metrics that are rarely seen at the tight end position in the National Football League. His 40-yard dash time of 4.5 seconds puts him in the 97th percentile, according to his profile on PlayerProfiler.com. His catch radius is a 10.47, putting him in the 99th percentile in the NFL.

Fant’s performance at the NFL combine was absolutely exceptional. Not only did he run a 4.5 second 40-yard dash, but he posted a vertical jump of 39.5 inches.

The 6-foot-4, 249-pound former Iowa Hawkeye star has been described as an absolute freak by many and has breathtaking speed in the open field. Tipping the scales at 6-foot-4, 249 pounds and running a 4.5 40 will do that.

Excited for Noah Fant in Year Three

Count Denver Bronco teammate Von Miller as one person that’s excited about Fant coming into his third year in the National Football League. Miller spoke with reporters in late May about how excited he was for Fant.

“Noah Fant is my favorite guy on the team,” Miller said in an article by Chad Jensen of Mile High Huddle. “I want to tell all you guys that. Noah Fant, I’m super excited about this guy. He’s buff, he’s strong. I think he’s going into Year 3 now and he just looks like a beast.”

Another athlete at tight end

The Broncos have another weapon at tight end with blazing speed in the open field and his name is Albert Okwuegbunam, whom most people just identify as “Albert O.” He played in four games in 2020, before suffering a torn ACL. Okwuegbunam starred for the Missouri Tigers in college.

Listed at 6-foot-5, 258 pounds, Okwuegbunam blew away the NFL combine with a 4.49 40 yard dash time. That’s freakishly fast for a player his size.

Von Miller thinks the Broncos have a very special tandem on their hands in Okwuegbunam and Fant.

“I was excited when we picked Noah, and you can kind of see everything coming together for Noah and ‘Albert O’—both of those guys,” Miller said. “You can kind of have that [former NFL TE] Aaron Hernandez and [Buccaneers TE Rob] Gronkowski-type of 12 package with those guys.”

Broncos tight end Nick Vannett, who was on the team at the time, said a year ago that he thought Okwuegbunam could be one of the best tight ends in the National Football League.

The Denver Broncos’ next preseason game is Saturday, August 28th against the LA Rams. Kickoff is set for 9:05 PM EST.