Insider: Broncos Hold Second Meeting with Dynamic Local TE Prospect

The Denver Broncos signed free-agent tight end Evan Engram, but that hasn't slammed the door on the team's interest in the 2025 draft class. This is a deep tight end class, and the Broncos, perhaps understanding that Engram is on the wrong side of 30 or maybe that Sean Payton's vision for the position is yet to be realized, are still scouting the draft hard.

The latest piece of evidence comes in the form of the Broncos hosting a "local" visit with Texas tight end Gunnar Helm, a Denver native, per 9NEWS' Mike Klis.

"Given Gunnar Helm’s rough, if brave, performance at the NFL Combine last month, the Broncos wanted to double-check on the talented tight end by bringing him in recently for a pre-draft visit, sources tell 9NEWS," Klis wrote on Sunday.

The heroism Klis referred to is Helm's gutsy decision to continue to run the 40-yard dash and position drills despite rolling his ankle on his first 40 attempt. Although it may have hurt his draft stock to a point, it did showcase a grit and determination that teams will find attractive.

It is football, after all.

The Broncos also held a formal meeting with Helm at the Combine, so the interest is genuine. The question is, where does the Longhorns tight end fall in the draft? Ranked as the No. 6 tight end on the Consensus Big Board, he's projected to be a fourth-round pick.

Now, if a team falls in love with Helm, I could see him going as high as the third round, but the nature of his false-positive Combine testing numbers will confound the issue, and force teams to rely on the tape and they're individual interactions with him as the scouting fulcrum.

As a 16-game starter last year at Texas, the 6-foot-5, 241-pound Helm caught 60 passes for 786 yards and seven touchdowns. It was a prolific campaign for the former Cherry Hills High School star.

Helm is going to get drafted and he could end up hearing his name called by the very team he grew up rooting for as a kid. And, because he's local, the Broncos could meet with Helm outside the strictures of the top-30 rules.