Fant drafted by Denver

A year ago it seemed pretty likely that Noah Fant would be headed to the NFL after his junior year.

The Omaha native had a breakout sophomore season with 30 receptions for 494 yards and 11 touchdowns. He followed that up this past year with a 39 receptions for 591 yards and found the end zone 7 more times. His 18 touchdowns as a tight end is an Iowa school record.

After the end of the regular season, Fant announced that he would skip Iowa’s bowl game and head to the NFL.

On Thursday night, Fant saw his dreams come true when he was selected by the Denver Broncos with the 20th pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

It marked the first time in the history of the NFL Draft that two tight ends from the same school were selected in the first round. Earlier in the evening, Iowa’s T.J. Hockenson was drafted by the Detroit Lions with the 8th overall pick.

Fant is a rare combination of size and speed at the tight end position. He measures in at just over 6-foot-4 and 241 pounds. He ran a 4.48 in the 40 at the NFL Combine and after his sophomore year, he registered a 42 inch vertical jump in testing in Iowa City. Fant is a big athletic target in the red zone and can stretch the field.