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Denver moves down, selects Iowa tight end Noah Fant

AP PHOTO - Iowa tight end Noah Fant poses with his jersey after the Denver Broncos selected him in the first round at the NFL Draft, Thursday in Nashville.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — John Elway gave Joe Flacco what he wanted Thursday night when the Denver Broncos general manager bypassed a quarterback in the first round of the draft and selected Iowa tight end Noah Fant with the 20th pick.

Fant and T.J. Hockenson, selected eighth by the Detroit Lions, became the first tight end teammates ever selected in the first round of the draft.

Fant said at the NFL scouting combine that he wanted to be the first tight end taken in the draft, but after seeing Hockenson go 12 spots ahead of him, he said he was OK with it because he was “super excited, super stoked” to join the Broncos.

“And I would argue that I’m in the best situation for a tight end in this draft,” he said.

Fant joins a young offense featuring second-year receiver Courtland Sutton and a tight end corps loaded with Big Ten alumni in Jake Butt, Jeff Heuerman and Troy Fumagalli, all coming off injuries.

“Coming into college, I watched those guys,” Fant said. “I’m sure they’re all great guys and I can’t wait to get to meet them.”

Fant also declared he was “super hyped” to play with Flacco, whom Elway acquired from Baltimore earlier this offseason. Last week, Flacco implored Elway to pick a non-QB in the first round, a stance that Elway said he understood completely.

Elway was in a similar spot in 1992 when then-Denver coach Dan Reeves bypassed receiver Carl Pickens and drafted Tommy Maddux much to Elway’s chagrin.

“Yeah, how’d that work out,” Elway cracked this week.

Elway surprisingly moved out of the “blue chip zone” when he traded the 10th overall pick to Pittsburgh for the 20th and 52nd overall selections and a 2020 third-rounder.

The real drama surrounding the Broncos during this draft weekend is what will happen with star cornerback Chris Harris Jr., who issued a pay-me-or-trade-me demand after Elway’s latest salvo in their contract clash this week.

2019 NFL Draft Selections

At Nashville, Tenn.

Thursday

FIRST ROUND

1. Arizona, Kyler Murray, qb, Oklahoma.

2. San Francisco, Nick Bosa, de, Ohio State.

3. N.Y. Jets, Quinnen Williams, nt, Alabama.

4. Oakland, Clelin Ferrell, de, Clemson.

5. Tampa Bay, Devin White, lb, LSU.

6. N.Y. Giants, Daniel Jones, qb, Duke.

7. Jacksonville, Josh Allen, de, Kentucky.

8. Detroit, T.J. Hockenson, te, Iowa.

9. Buffalo, Ed Oliver, dt, Houston.

10. Pittsburgh (from Denver), Devin Bush, lb, Michigan.

11. Cincinnati, Jonah Williams, ot, Alabama.

12. Green Bay, Rashan Gary, de, Michigan.

13. Miami, Christian Wilkins, de, Clemson.

14. Atlanta, Chris Lindstrom, g, Boston College.

15. Washington, Dwayne Haskins, qb, Ohio State.

16. Carolina, Brian Burns, de, Florida State.

17. N.Y. Giants (from Cleveland), Dexter Lawrence, dt, Clemson.

18. Minnesota, Garrett Bradbury, c, N.C. State.

19. Tennessee, Jeffery Simmons, dt, Mississippi State.

20. Denver (from Pittsburgh), Noah Fant, te, Iowa.

21. Green Bay (from Seattle), Darnell Savage, s, Maryland.

22. Philadelphia (from Baltimore), Andre Dillard, ot, Washington State.

23. Houston, Tytus Howard, ot, Alabama State.

24. Oakland (from Chicago), Josh Jacobs, rb, Alabama.

25. Baltimore (from Philadelphia), Marquise Brown, wr, Oklahoma.

26. Washington (from Indianapolis), Montez Sweat, de, Mississippi State.

27. Oakland (from Dallas), Johnathan Abram, s, Mississippi State.

28. L.A. Chargers, Jerry Tillery, dt, Notre Dame.

29. Seattle (from Kansas City), L.J. Collier, DE, TCU.

30. N.Y. Giants (from New Orleans through Green Bay and Seattle), Deandre Baker, cb, Georgia.

31. Atlanta (from L.A. Rams), Kaleb McGary, ot, Washington.

32. New England, N’Keal Harry, wr, Arizona State.

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