Former Iowa Hawkeye and current Denver Bronco tight end Noah Fant has been impressing in his first few days of training camp. Fant blew scouts away during the NFL Combine where he recorded a 4.51 40-yard dash, a 39.5 inch vertical among other athletic feats.

Fant’s career totals include 78 receptions for 1,083 yards and 19 touchdowns – the most by an Iowa tight end and third-best among Big Ten tight ends. Fant was named first-team All-Big Ten by league coaches and was a semifinalist for the John Mackey Award. He was named third-team All-America by The Associated Press.

After a team practice, Fant and his teammates were gearing up for a team meeting. As he was getting ready to head inside, he spotted some Hawkeye/Broncos fans and decided to take some time to make their day.

.@nrfant Noah you signed autographs for our 3 grandchildren today while you were being called to meetings. They will never forget it. We are huge Hawkeyes and Broncos fans. Will be cheering you on this year!! pic.twitter.com/CtNK4v701T — Connie Bappe (@ConnieBappe) July 21, 2019

Fant was one of the most popular players during his three-year career at Iowa. He would often make rounds on social media for taking pictures with fans around Iowa City, during the Iowa Ladies Football Academy and more. Fant was the second tight end drafted in 2019 and the hype for his rookie year has been rising.

"It usually takes time for tight ends to adjust to the NFL, mostly because of their inability to block," Mel Kiper Jr. wrote about Fant. "But don't think of Fant as a traditional tight end. New offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello could use Fant in the slot as a true receiver, much like the Giants did with Evan Engram as a rookie in 2017, when he caught 64 passes and scored six touchdowns. Fant and Engram are similar athletically, though I don't expect Fant to get 115 targets in Year 1 like Engram did.

Iowa has been making its case for "tight-end U" over the past several years. The Hawkeyes become the first school to have two tight ends drafted in the first round of the same NFL Draft. Former Iowa tight end George Kittle broke the NFL single-season receiving yardage record this past season with the 49ers. Fant sees a lot of himself in Kittle.

“You look at George and we’re pretty similar in what we do,” Fant said about Kittle. “At the Combine, he ran pretty similar times, jumped similar numbers. I’m just hoping I can live up to the same things he’s done. He’s been a great mentor for me. [I’ve been] talking to him pretty much every week about anything I have questions about. How each other are doing. So that’s something that’s super cool and I have a lot of love for him.”

Glad @nrfant was able to come say ?? — thanks for coming out to #BroncosCamp! pic.twitter.com/zRjCtn1QE6 — Denver Broncos (@Broncos) July 21, 2019

A lot of eyes will be on Fant for his big-play potential, size and athleticism. New Denver quarterback Joe Flacco is a big fan of utilizing tight ends in the pass game and Fant might be the newest beneficiary to that.

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