Sean Payton Talks Up Former Chiefs-Now-Broncos NT Keondre Coburn

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton spent a portion of his press conference Wednesday praising newly-arrived rookie nose tackle Keondre Coburn, whom the team claimed off waivers last week.

“He’s young," Payton opened. "A lot of times, when you claim a first-year player, you’re looking at your grades you just had six months ago. When we see a graded player, that catches your eye. In other words, the grades were—it’s hard to find big guys inside. His makeup is good. There were a few checkmarks that you hit, and we had the roster space.”

"Big" could be an understatement when describing Coburn, who stands 6-foot-2, 332 pounds. A predominant run defender, he stood out — literally and figuratively — across four seasons at Texas, compiling 50 solo tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks while earning 2022 second-team All-Big 12 honors.

The Chiefs selected Coburn with the 194th overall pick in April's draft. He appeared in one game for Kansas City, logging a solo tackle, before being released on Oct. 19.

"A stout but athletic nose tackle with nimble feet, Coburn can sit down and muddy run lanes or create difficulties for pin-and-pull blocking schemes with his interior agility," reads his NFL.com scouting profile. "While he’s not a three-down lineman, he does have the bull rush and activity level to cause issues as a rusher. He’s more than capable of pressing and separating from blocks as a two-gapping plugger but requires more consistent technique to improve his consistency in that area. Coburn’s blend of girth, power and agility could be coveted by teams looking for help along the interior."

There's a chance that Coburn is activated to face his former club in Sunday's showdown at Empower Field. If not, the 23-year-old should eventually see the field as a backup behind NTs D.J. Jones and Mike Purcell.