Noah Fant is emerging right before our eyes.
Adding six more receptions to his season total in yesterday’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, Fant has now hauled in 58 catches on the season with one game remaining on the schedule. That figure gives him the 10th best tight end season in Broncos history in terms of receptions.
Eight of the Top-10 catch seasons by Broncos tight ends have come from Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe. The other season came in the historic 2013 campaign, when Julius Thomas caught 65 passes from Peyton Manning.
Shannon and the TEs
Broncos top 10 TE catch seasons
1994, Shannon Sharpe, 87
1993, Sharpe, 81
1996, Sharpe, 80
1997, Sharpe 72
2013, Julius Thomas, 65
1998, Sharpe, 64
1995, Sharpe, 63
2003, Sharpe, 62
2002, Sharpe, 61
2020, Noah Fant 58*
*One game remaining#9sports— Mike Klis (@mikeklis) December 28, 2020
Despite the ineptness of the Broncos offense at times in 2020, Fant has shown he is just scratching the surface of what he can do in the passing game. In only his second season in the league, it is clear his ceiling is extraordinarily high as he seems to get better with each passing week. He has caught a pass in every game this year, besides the game against Carolina two weeks ago in which he was forced to exit early with an illness after playing just five offensive snaps.
Last week against Buffalo, Fant was targeted a career-high 11 times as he collected a career-best 8 catches.
With rookie tight end Albert Okwuegbunam lost for the year in Week 9 with a torn ACL, Fant knew he would become even more of a centerpiece to the offense. Playing alongside tight ends Nick Vannett, Troy Fumagalli, Jake Butt and Okwuegbunam, Fant has been by far the leader of the pack in receiving, catching 58 of the 91 receptions by Broncos tight ends in 2020.
Many Broncos fans remember Week 7 of last season against the Kansas City Chiefs, when Fant dropped multiple passes and his toughness was questioned. It was a rough patch that he maneuvered through and has proved himself to be a real threat since that dreadful game.
He was pegged as a supreme athlete with great run after the catch ability when selected in the first-round of the 2019 draft and has since made progress in all facets of his game. As the cornerstones of this youthful offense are still finding their way, Fant is just one of the weapons at the Broncos disposal, along with wide receivers Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler. With Fant’s tremendous potential, it would not be a shock to anyone to see him playing in the Pro Bowl sometime in the near future.
With a home game against the Raiders in the Week 17 season finale, Fant can add to his reception total and etch his name further into the Broncos record books.