Future Broncos: 2 Rising Prospects To Watch In Week 4 Of Ncaa Football Season

Another weekend, another installment of Future Broncos. In the first three weeks, we have highlighted nine prospects from entirely different position groups. Moving forward, there will certainly be overlap at certain positions.

In the comments section, a few people talked about more tight ends and linebackers. That’s why two rising prospects will be on the radar this week for discussion. Without further ado, here are my trio of prospects for Broncos Country to watch today in Week 4 of the college football season.

Luke Reynolds — Tight End — Virginia Tech

Oregon standout Jamari Johnson was the first tight end I mentioned as a potential first-round target for the Broncos next April. Truth be told, I wasn’t planning to do another tight end so early on in the season. However, after his dominant performance against Maryland last week and start to the ‘26 season, Virginia Tech standout Luke Reynolds is worth mentioning.

Reynolds began his collegiate career at Penn State. As a freshman in 2024, he played in sixteen games and had just nine catches for 111 yards and one touchdown. That’s not impressive production, but it’s worth nothing he was backing up future first-round pick Tyler Warren.

As a sophomore, he split time with two other players in a heavy rotation at the position. His production as a receiver went up a smidge and finished the year with 26 catches for 257 yards. He was also a key inline blocker for running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen to bolster Penn State’s rushing attack.

A coaching change with the Nittany Lions coupled with many of their key offensive starters going to the 2026 NFL Draft were big reasons Reynolds transferred to Virginia Tech this year. The decision looks to be wise with respect to his draft stock which is now soaring.

In three games with the Hokies thus far, he has 25 catches for 265 yards and 4 touchdowns. He is coming off a 12 catch, 107-yard, and one touchdown performance against the Terrapins. It took a few years, but everyone watching is beginning to see why he was the nation’s top potential recruit several years ago.

He may not be a top-tier athlete but is savvy finding spots against zone coverage and has the toughness to break tackles and create yards after the catch. Prospects who can move the chains, be a threat in the redzone, and propel the run game with good blocking are in high demand across the league. If Reynolds keeps this level of play up, he should easily be a Top 50 selection next Spring as an early declarant. In my opinion, he is a terrific fit for Head Coach Sean Payton’s offense. Reynolds can do it all.

You can catch the junior in action when the undefeated Hokies head on the road take on Boston College for an ACC matchup this morning.

Ben Roberts — Linebacker — Texas Tech

Last year, readers of Future Broncos were definitely high on linebacker Jacob Rodriguez. Watching him, you would have undoubtedly seen his teammate Ben Roberts making his fair share of plays too. One of the best off-ball linebacker prospects in the nation, Roberts is hoping to build upon a junior season where he posted 90 tackles and 4 interceptions.

Entering his fourth year as a starter for the Red Raiders, Roberts is an imposing prospect at 6’3” and 245 pounds. That’s NFL ready size. If prospects who force turnovers are high on your list, the fifth-year senior is one of the best prospects this cycle. Over his collegiate career, he has half a dozen interceptions to his name and nearly an identical number of forced fumbles. Quite simply, #13 is a turnover magnet.

For those wanting to see better coverage chops from Denver’s linebacking corps, Roberts really stands out. He was a multi-star athlete in high school and played defensive back. With his safety background, it shouldn’t be a s surprise he touts top-notch coverage skills as a linebacker. That being said, no prospect is perfect and there are a few things he needs to work on.

This season, I’m hoping to see some improvement and consistency in the run game. He added weight and strength this offseason to do better at shedding blocks. He has over 300 career tackles, but very few of those have been behind the line of scrimmage. I believe he can do a much better job with diagnosis and his pursuit angles. In 2025, he had nine missed tackles—but his sub-8-percent missed tackle rate is slightly better than average for the position.

For whatever reason, I’ve seen Roberts ranked as a Day 3 prospect on a lot of consensus boards. That seems pretty wild. I’d wager a four-year starter that has played at an incredibly high level with his traits and production will be a Top 64 selection in the ‘27 NFL Draft—even with the rough edges and flaws that need rounding out.

If you’re still banging the “Broncos need to draft an inside linebacker!” drum, you can catch Roberts in action when the eleventh ranked Red Raiders host Sam Houston this morning. It’ll be a cakewalk game for them, and I expect Roberts to put on a dominant performance.