Every rival of the Kansas City Chiefs looks forward to the day when Travis Kelce will no longer be on the roster. Until that day comes, quite a few of KC's AFC West opposition are hoping they can find a weapon on their roster that measures up to his impact. When it comes to the Denver Broncos, they hope they have found their own touchdown-happy receiving tight end in Noah Fant.

When an NFL team takes a player in the first round, they aren't expecting that player to just be roster filler. It's clear the Broncos are hoping they can find a way to use Fant the same way the Chiefs use Kelce.

It makes sense they would want a weapon like that, considering they have been absolutely dominated by the Kansas City tight end since he first entered the league.

Dominating at the college ranks

While Kansas City Chiefs fans might laugh a bit at the idea that Noah Fant can step into Travis Kelce's shoes, there are some reasons to believe the former Iowa Hawkeye could, at the very least, be a very productive receiving tight end for the Broncos.

In the college ranks, it's safe to say that Kirk Ferentz's offense never really took advantage of just how talented a player Fant was. The Hawkeyes offense simply wasn't set up to ge the ball to him as much as it should have. Even knowing that, he was one of the best receivers on the team during his time there.

In 2018, his final year in Ames, he caught 39 passes for 519 yards and seven touchdowns.

That was a follow-up to a 2017 season that saw him catch 30 passes for 494 yards and 11 TDs. You might notice Fant's ability to find the end zone? That's what the Denver Broncos are hoping wiill continue when they take on someone like the Kansas City Chiefs.

9News.com reports that Denver has specifically drafted the tight end in hopes that will eventually be the offset. That's despite the fact that he might not even be the starting tight end in 2019.

Big shoes to fill against the Kansas City Chiefs

When you look at Travis Kelce's college stats, one thing that stands out is that while he was clearly a very good tight end, he blossomed later in his career.

His final season with the Cincinnati Bearcats saw him catch 45 passes for 722 yards and eight touchdowns. That was a follow up to a season where he caught just 13 passes.

Some might say that the Broncos have the more finished product in Fant in that regard. That, of course, ignores the fact that Kelce is arguably the best tight end in the entire league, especially with the Patriot's Rob Gronkowski retired. When looking at the fact that the Broncos don't even know if Noah Fant will be able to start this coming season, it seems hard to believe the team truly believes it has a player that can be their own version of the Kansas City Chiefs' best weapon.
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