Broncos Add 6-foot-5, 14-TD All-SEC Standout to ‘Crowded’ TE Room

When things go as bad for a position group as they did for the Denver Broncos tight ends in 2024, it’s going to make it so you’re willing to try some different things.

The Broncos showed they are willing to continue re-tooling at the position from the very top to the very bottom by signing former Ole Miss tight end and undrafted free agent Caden Prieskorn after waiving tight end Cole Fotheringham.

“(Prieskorn) essentially replaces Fotheringham on Denver’s roster,” The Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel wrote on June 4. “After the draft (Prieskorn) signed as an undrafted free agent with Detroit, but the Lions waived him after the team’s rookie minicamp. Fotheringham, 27, went undrafted in 2022 but spent two years with Las Vegas and also time last offseason with Houston.”

The Broncos have already added new tight ends to the roster in 2025 with free agent and 2-time Pro Bowler Evan Engram from the Jacksonville Jaguars and 6-foot-7 rookie seventh round pick (No. 241 overall) Caleb Lohner.

Prieskorn Was All-Conference at 2 Colleges

Prieskorn, 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, was an All-Conference selection at 2 different colleges. He was an All-AAC pick at Memphis in 2022 with 48 receptions for 602 yards and 7 touchdowns then earned All-SEC honors with Ole Miss in 2023 with 30 receptions for 449 yards and 4 touchdowns in just 10 games.

In the 2023 Peach Bowl, Prieskorn was named Offensive MVP with 10 reception for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 38-25 win over Penn State.

Prieskorn, who will turn 26 years old in September, finished his college career with 112 receptions for 1,531 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also has the kind of experience NFL teams are starting to covet more and more often — he played in 52 career games. Prieskorn also has experience catching passes from a first round pick with New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart the last 2 seasons.

NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein projected Prieskorn as a seventh round pick or preferred free agent in his pre-draft evaluation.

“(Prieskorn) has good size with long arms, making him an easy target to find against zone coverage … hands are fairly sticky and he’s not going to drop many passes,”  Zierlein wrote. “Prieskorn has the size and frame of an in-line tight end, but he lacks the grit and blocking ability to man that spot in the NFL right now.”

Broncos Won Despite Tight Ends in 2024

Adding Prieskorn gives the Broncos 6 tight ends on the roster with Engram, Lohner, Adam Trautman, Lucas Krull and Nate Adkins.

The Broncos got little to no production from their tight ends in 2024 and still made the playoffs, although there’s still some upside to the 3 returners that should turn into a fierce competition for roster spots behind Engram.

Trautman was the leader among the tight ends with 13 receptions for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns. Adkins has plus value as not only a tight end but can also double as a blocking fullback — Tush Push, anyone? — and had 14 receptions for 115 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 15 targets.

Depending on how rapidly Lohner develops, he could end up being a valuable red zone threat as a rookie. Lohner played 5 seasons of college basketball for BYU, Baylor and Utah before playing his first season of football at Utah in 2024, where he had 4 receptions for 54 yards and 4 touchdowns.