Broncos new tight end Albert Okwuegbunam played with Denver quarterback Drew Lock at Missouri from 2017-2018.
So when Okwuegbunam was still available entering Day 3 of the draft, Broncos general manager John Elway knew exactly who to call.
“The first phone call we made today, Vic [Fangio] and I made — was to Drew to find out about Albert and see what he thought about him because he had a much better junior year when Drew was there than he had last year,” Elway said during a post-draft Zoom conference call with reporters.
“We wanted to find out and get the inside on him. Drew really liked him and gave him really high praise and thought he was a guy that could come in here and help us and talked about how he could really, really run, but he had a poor year last year. We were really kind of going off his junior year.”
In two seasons with Lock, Okwuegbunam caught 72 passes for 881 yards and 17 touchdowns. Without Lock last season, he Okwuegbunam posted career lows in receptions (26) and yards (306). Lock assured Denver’s front office that the tight end was worthy of a fourth-round pick.
“When Drew gave him the seal of approval, we were glad — he was our target in the fourth round and he was still there, and we got him,” Elway said. “Plus, to put him on the other side from Noah [Fant], he’s a 4.49 guy that can really run at 258 pounds . . . [he’s] a big target, good in the red zone. He’s another weapon with great speed that we could add.”
