TE Noah Fant Details 'Frustrating' Ways Broncos Squanderd his Talent Under Ex-OC Pat Shurmur

E ven thou gh N oah Fant had one of the hottest three-year starts of any Denver Broncos tight end of all time, fans were frustrated by the way he was used in the offense. It turns out, Fant was frustrated too. 

After being dealt to Seattle as a part of the blockbuster Russell Wilson trade, Fant took to the Denver airwaves this past week as a guest of the Stokley and Zach show on 104.3 The FAN. Host Brandon Stokley (former Broncos wideout) posed a leading question to Fant about his own personal view on former offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur squandering Fant's 4.5 speed and explosive talent. 

"Yeah, I agree, man. I feel when I came into the league, that's what I was drafted to do, right? Get down the field,," Fant told The FAN, "make those explosive plays, and kind of be that pass-catching tight end. Over my time in Denver, I felt like that narrative kind of got muddled down a little bit where it was more of a focus of me catching flat balls, or whatever it may be, and then trying to be a shifty guy, an elusive guy and try to break as many tackles as possible to get my yards, whereas, I viewed myself as a downfield threat. Get in open space, then I can make things happen. It was a little frustrating, being used in the short field. Obviously, that's a part of the game and those intermediate routes are important which I can do also. But definitely, with my speed and things like that, I was drafted to get more down the field. Hopefully, that works out in Seattle." 

Broncos fans were chagrined to so often see Fant routes in the flat or in the short-middle of the field where he wasn't allowed to use his speed and explosiveness to help the offense. If you think of Fant's biggest highlight-reel plays as a Bronco, they were usually him taking a short pass, breaking a tackle, and just like he detailed, getting "his yards" that way through attrition. 

Fant's first offensive coordinator, Rich Scangarello, had a more complete vision of how to use him. But Vic Fangio fired Scangarello after his one year as OC and hired ex-New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur to run the offense. 

Fans were skeptical of the hire and wondering if Fangio was really the head coach of the Broncos or just the head coach of the defense. Shurmur seemed to be given free reign and full autonomy to run the offense. 

As Denver's offense listed and never gained traction, Shurmur became the head coach of that side of the ball. At least, that's the picture Fant painted during his radio appearance earlier this week, as he revealed his opinion of how the Broncos could have been better in that area. 

"I think you bring up a good point there," Fant told Stokley and Zach. "When you get a head coach, they're going to specialize on one side of the ball. Vic is 100% an amazing defensive coordinator. But when you have that, you've got to have a really good offensive coordinator to take the offense and run with it. The first example that comes to mind is K.C. [Kansas City Chiefs HC] Andy Reid is an offensive guy but he's got his defense set... so he doesn't really have to worry about that side of the ball. It makes them a good team. You get a lot of coaches that are like that where you look at the other side of the ball, you've got to have, essentially, another really good head coach or offensive coordinator on the other side to really balance the team out. I thought that we could have been better in that area. But I think Vic, from what he had, from what he did with our defense, from as many injuries as our defense dealt with, from scheme-wise and the numbers we put up, you can't really argue with that." 

Fangio did get good results from the defense but it couldn't translate to wins on the field because the offense was always so anemic. Part of that was the unstable and erratic play from under center but the purview of gleaning production out of the quarterback position falls on the head of the offensive coordinator. 

Fangio was the embodiment of the 'Peter Principle.' He was promoted to the level of his own incompetence, at which point, he was exposed for all to see and ultimately sent back down to where he belongs with his wherewithal as a coach. The dour, old-school coach wasn't loved by all his former players in Denver but to Fant, he wasn't so bad — once you got used to him. 

"He's his own acquired taste," Fant said.  

When the Wilson trade went down, Fant became aware of his part in it in the same way that fans did: through media reports. While there's no way of knowing exactly why Broncos' GM George Paton didn't personally call to inform Fant of the trade, the player did not appreciate finding out about it in that way. 

Fant was asked if he felt he should have been treated with more respect in that whirlwind process. 

"Yeah, I thought so, honestly," Fant told Stokley and Zach. "From my perspective, I'm not going to say I've been the perfect prospect drafted in Denver but I felt like I've done some pretty good things in Denver and had some really good moments. But it's a part of the business and I think that's what I learned the most from this whole experience is. I bled blue and orange a little bit."

Fant's parting message to Broncos Country was one of "love" and he even teased a possible return to the Mile High City down the road. One of the most interesting things Fant said revolved around his outlook for Albert Okwuegbunam in the Broncos' new-look offense with Wilson as the triggerman. 

We'll save that for an article all its own because Fant dropped some knowledge. Ultimately, Fant doesn't look back at his time as a Bronco with negativity, even though he was frustrated at times and the team lacked success. 

"I'll have nothing but positive thoughts," Fant said. "Honestly, frustrations come with the game. I think the frustration the most came from—I just knew I was capable of so much more. But I knew we were building as a team also, we were building together which was part of the frustrating part for me because I was a part of that build. I was a part of kind of bringing everything along and getting in with these guys that we kept drafting. But it'll be nothing but positive thoughts."