Since Sean Payton arrived in Denver two years ago, the production from the Broncos tight end room has been abysmal. This is like Kansas City having no good BBQ. Or New York having no good pizza. Sean Payton, the play caller, has made a living using the tight end to exploit defenses, and yet, Lucas Krull led that room last season with 19 catches for 154 yards and no touchdowns.
This has to change.
In 2009, after getting cut by the Broncos, I spent that off-season trying to get back into the league. Late in training camp, the New Orleans Saints, coached by Sean Payton, had an injury to their #2 tight end, Billy Miller. Billy was a big part of their offense, as Sean liked to use two tight end packages, so they needed to sign a veteran. I was one of the veterans who got a workout. There were four of us. This was my third workout in as many weeks, and the others had taken place on a side field with a scout and a random dude throwing us the ball. This Saints workout would be much different.
As the four of us took the field, we were surprised to find quarterback Drew Brees out there to throw to us and Sean Payton to lead us through the workout. For the next hour, Payton put us through a series of routes that they valued in the system, and the part that stuck with me was how many different seam routes we ran.
A “seam” is when you run down the middle of the field, somewhere between the hashes, and bend your path according to the coverage. There is a great deal of nuance to NFL coverages, and so this bending of the “seam” also gets very nuanced. We ran it about five different ways, and Drew Brees put it right on the money every time. I’ve thought about that workout a lot over the last two years, as I’ve watched the middle of the field on Broncos game days, wondering why none of these tight ends are running down the seams.
I guess it really does boil down to personnel. Although Sean Payton wants to throw to the tight end, he isn’t going to force it with a guy who doesn’t give him that special feeling. They hoped it would be Greg Dulcich, but he didn’t pan out. Then they made eyes at Lucas Krull. He still may turn into a good pro, but despite his prototypical tight end size and speed, something isn’t clicking there, so you take another swing.
The signing of Evan Engram is a nice addition, but he’s a frequently injured veteran on the other side of 30. Engram is a short term solution to a long term problem, which is what made the Broncos last selection in the draft—6’7” Caleb Lohner—an intriguing prospect at the position.
Lohner comes from a not-so-long line of former college basketball players turned NFL tight ends. Tony Gonzales. Antonio Gates. Jimmy Graham. And the Broncos own Julius Thomas. They were all college hoopers and became excellent NFL tight ends. What is it about these particular college basketball players that make them such good tight ends? First off, they are usually power forwards. That seems to be the ideal size. Couple that with the footwork, hand eye coordination, ability to box out and go attack a ball in the air with the hands and snatch it at its highest point, and you have the potential to dominate at the tight end position.
But catching the football isn’t all a tight end does.
Like Jimmy Graham and Julius Thomas, Lohner has limited football experience. He played only one season of college football, and was on the field for only 57 snaps. That’s not even a full game. But he made the most of those snaps, catching four touchdowns on four catches. Promising, certainly, but very raw. The question is, how raw? And can he become good enough at all of the other stuff on the football field—like blocking and route running—so that we can create opportunities for him to go use his strengths.
If Lohner becomes a reliable red-zone target and earns Sean Payton’s trust, it will put another tool in Payton’s tool-belt, helping him build an offensive powerhouse that can rival those of his New Orleans teams, like the one in 2009 that I almost landed on—the one that won Sean Payton his only Super Bowl.
So the questions for Caleb Lohner will be myriad: Can he go high point the football? Can he adjust to the ball in flight and attack it in space? Can he go get the rebound with pads and a helmet on? Can he box out the dudes who aren’t hindered by the rules of basketball, and who can hit him as hard as they want?
There is also the basic football stuff. Can he put his hand in the dirt and block? Can he deliver a blow? Can he get down in a three point stance? Can he fire off the line and pop someone? Can he run his feet and stay low? Can he embrace the pain? Can he throw himself into the fire, play after play, day after day? If the answer is yes, then he has a chance to be something special. The measurables are there—he is big, long and fast. But what about those things you can’t measure, like his heart, his work ethic, and his competitiveness? These are the traits that will determine his fate.
Jimmy Graham played five seasons in New Orleans. He made three pro bowls and had over 80 catches four times.
Could Caleb Lohner be the next Jimmy Graham?
There’s only one way to find out.
