Leaving the Iowa Hawkeyes program a year early has paid off for tight end Noah Fant as he has been drafted No. 20 overall by the Denver Broncos. Fant has started to be talked about regularly around NFL circles the last few months, but this is a guy that people in Iowa City knew was going to be special when he stepped on campus.

As a freshman, he didn't play a ton but was still able to find the end zone once. As a sophomore, he hauled in 30 passes for 494 yards and 11 touchdowns which was enough for him to earn All-Big Ten third team honors.

As a junior, Fant started to really turn heads hauling in 39 catches for 519 yards, and seven touchdowns. He did skip the team's bowl game to start preparing for the draft.

NFL draft Analyst Lance Zierlein points out that Fant needs to improve in run blocking to become an elite tight end, but even if that doesn't ever improve, his pass-catching skills could still be enough.

Pass-catching tight end with the length, acceleration and speed to create matchup challenges both short and long. Fant is at his best in open space and on the move as his catch-focus appears to wane when coverage crowds him or he hears footsteps. He needs to get stronger and more competitive at the point of attack to help a run game, but if that never happens, his ability to uncover and hit big plays will still make him a coveted prize for teams ready to add a move tight end as their new matchup toy.

It looks like Joe Flacco of the Broncos got a new toy that should help the team this season.