Of the 257 players taken in the 2025 NFL draft that concluded Saturday, two with Utah ties were among the favorite selections of at least one outlet.
On Sunday, The Athletic published a story in which its NFL beat writers identified their favorite draft pick of each of the 32 teams in the league, and former Utah State receiver Jalen Royals and former Utah tight end Caleb Lohner made the list.
“‘Favorite’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘best’ — though in some cases, it’s one and the same," The Athletic writes, adding that “on-field performance, team fit, roster-depth help or because they were just a great draft weekend story” were all things considered when selecting their picks.
Though Royals was taken by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 133rd overall pick, he was named as Mike Jones’ favorite selection for the Chiefs because, “Royals is going to wind up being a Deebo Samuel-type player in Andy Reid’s offense, posing a threat as a pass catcher on a variety of routes, as a ball carrier and also as a return man. The former running back will make plays all over the field.”
Lohner, meanwhile, was not taken by the Denver Broncos until the last round of the draft (241st overall), but he was Nick Kosmider’s favorite pick by the Broncos. As Kosmider wrote of Lohner, “The seventh-round selection for the Broncos may not be in line for a big role in 2025. He’ll be in for a tough fight to make the initial 53-man roster in September. But it’s hard not to be intrigued by a 6-foot-7, 256-pound target who played one season of college football after five years as a major-conference basketball player.
“Perhaps the Broncos fell in love with Lohner’s stat line at Utah: four catches, all four touchdowns — and one complete box out that no doubt made his hoops coaches proud."