ENGLEWOOD, Colo — A mere five years ago – or a lifetime in the limited timespan at the elite level of sports – Lucas Krull was a hard-throwing lefty pitcher who was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 34th round of the Major League Baseball draft.
On Monday night, Krull was making his Broncos’ debut as a tight end, called up from the practice squad – temporarily for now -- where he had spent the first 9 weeks of the 2023 NFL season.
How did the 6-foot-6, 260-pound Krull get from point A in baseball five years ago to point, well, A in football?
“The love for baseball just sort of dwindled away,” Krull said in an interview earlier this season with 9NEWS.
Out of Mill Valley High School in the sports hotbed of Shawnee, Kan., Krull had a chance to develop as a big league pitcher.
“That was my thought process when I was young,’’ Krull said. “Growing up, baseball was something I excelled at at a young age.’’
How hard did he throw?
“Mid-90s,’’ he said. “Struggled with my control a little bit. I didn’t really grow into my body and my size for football until my senior year in high school. So I was committed to baseball until I started playing football my sophomore year in high school.’’
After high school, baseball was his ticket to Jefferson College, a junior college, in 2017 and 2018. It was then that the Giants’ drafted him.
“I turned that down to come back and play football,’’ Krull said. “My high school coach reached out to everyone that wanted me in high school and let them know I was interested in coming back to play football. Just to get a wage of interest levels. And with that all the teams in the area like Kansas City, Missouri, all these local schools they were like, ‘Yeah, I remember him, hasn’t played in a couple years. Reached out to them and let them know I wanted to come back and play football.
“And a couple gave me an opportunity to walk on and earn a scholarship. SMU in Dallas was the first school to offer and others started to make offers and it kind of snowballed into about 10 offers and ultimately chose Florida.”
He played two years for the Gators, then transferred to Pitt where he had 38 catches for 451 yards and six touchdowns as a senior in 2021. Undrafted by the NFL last year, he signed as a college free agent with the Dennis Allen-coached New Orleans Saints where he spent most of his rookie season on their practice squad, although he was called up for one game without getting any action.
When he was among the Saints’ final cuts in late-August, he decided to sign with the Broncos’ practice squad instead of returning to New Orleans’ practice squad.
“I had several other opportunities but after talking to my agent and my family this was definitely the best one,’’ Krull said. “Lots of familiar faces here. The tight ends coach (Declan Doyle) is the same. I had a really great run with him last year. (Broncos and former Saints’ tight end) Adam Trautman and one of the best ever to do it in Sean Payton’s system so it was kind of a no-brainer to decide to come here over all the other teams.”
Krull occasionally mixed in with the Broncos’ first-team offense during practices this year and it appears he’s ready to give quarterback Russell Wilson another pass-game option as Denver starts its second-half tonight at Buffalo.
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