INDIANAPOLIS — It’s less than 500 miles from John Michael Gyllenborg’s home in the Kansas City, Missouri, area to Indianapolis, but several years ago his road from there to the NFL scouting combine would have been best measured in light years.

Gyllenborg didn’t play tackle football until he was a senior at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City in 2020, and he went out simply for fun. His primary sports were baseball and basketball and his goal was to play basketball at a Division II or NAIA college.

Instead, Gyllenborg ended up earning a scholarship to play football at Wyoming. And now he is at the combine in Indianapolis while being projected to be a late-round pick in the April 23-25 draft in Pittsburgh.

“It’s pretty crazy to think about, to reflect on that kind of journey,’’ he said Thursday.

Gyllenborg slowly worked his way up at Wyoming to become an NFL prospect. He redshirted in 2021 and caught just three passes in 2022. But over the past three seasons, he had 77 receptions for 1,021 yards including 24 for 217 yards during an injury-riddled 2025 campaign.

Being 6-foot-5, 225 pounds and considered to have an intriguing upside, Gyllenborg has caught the eyes of a number of NFL teams. The Broncos have talked to him.

“The Broncos, like any other team, would be an absolute dream to play for,’’ he said.

Gyllenborg couldn’t have dreamed in 2020 even coming close to the NFL. He had played flag football until the fourth grade, and then his grandfather, who is now deceased, didn’t want him to play tackle ball. So he instead focused on baseball and basketball.

“In my senior year, we got a new football coach at my high school, Kelly Donohoe,’’ Gyllenborg said. “He was pinching me with, basically, ‘Come out and have fun with the boys senior year.’ It was COVID. There’s no pressure. Just come out and have fun.”

Gyllenborg played wide receiver in the first three games before suffering an injury that ended his season. But he showed enough for Wyoming to offer him a scholarship, the only football offer he received.

“Coach Donohoe was kind of like, ‘If you’re tall and fast and you can keep speed and put on some weight and develop at Wyoming, you’d be pretty good,’’’ Gyllenborg said. “I liked the thought of that.”

Gyllenborg might be regarded as an even better prospect had he not been bogged down by a hamstring injury in 2025. He missed three games and was hampered in several others.

“That was pretty brutal to work with towards the beginning of the year,’’ he said. “But all you can do at that point is put your head down, grind the rehab, trust the process.”

Gyllenborg wasn’t hampered off the field, with the finance major having earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in business during his five years at Wyoming. And now he can show off his athletic skills at combine workouts.

“I’m blessed to be gifted with the gifts that I have of being tall and fast, especially for my size,’’ Gyllenborg said. “Those kind of things matter in this sport, and I’m excited to showcase it a little bit (Friday).”

Good grades for Broncos

The Broncos got mostly good marks in team report cards researched by the NFL Players Association.

The grades were made public in previous years until the NFL complained, forcing the union to stop releasing them. However, Denver’s 850 KOA radio obtained and first reported the Broncos’ grades. Players on the team did the grading, with their contributions being anonymous. ESPN reported the Broncos were 10th overall in NFL grades.

The team got an A-plus for the Walton-Penner ownership group; grades of A for general manager George Paton, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, strength coaches, training staff, weight room, food-dining area and home game field; grades of A-minus for since-fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, training room and team travel; a B-plus for nutrition-dietician; grades of B for head coach Sean Payton, position coaches and treatment of families; and a D for locker room.

However, the locker room situation will be rectified when construction on a new facility at Broncos Park is complete this spring.

McNeil-Warren thrilled with Broncos meeting

Payton this week called “musts” for needs during the offseason being at inside linebacker, tight end and running back. While he didn’t mention safety, perhaps the Broncos could use a high pick on that position.

The Broncos hold the No. 30 pick in the draft. Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, expected to be a late first-round or early second-round pick, said Thursday he had a formal interview at the combine with Denver.

“It went well,’’ he said. “It went great. I love the Broncos. I love their coaching staff. Everything went great.”

The Broncos look to be set for 2026 with starting safeties Talanoa Hufanga, who was named second-team All-Pro, and Brandon Jones. However, top reserve P.J. Locke will be a free agent next month and it is uncertain if he will return.

Offseason drills pushed back

The Broncos can begin offseason drills April 20, but Payton said Thursday they will start 11 days later.

Speaking on ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show,” Payton said the Broncos will push the schedule back due to the length of their season. They lost 10-7 to New England in the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 25.

“Our guys won’t come in until the 1st of May and then we won’t do a football item until June,” Payton said. “(Players will) just be lifting for a month. You don’t want them to feel like we’re back here at practice again and we were just here.

“We wanted like a gap and honestly they need that and we need that. So we’ll just do Phase 1 for a month, regardless of what the schedule says, and then we’ll do OTAs and minicamp in June.”

Broncos linemen won’t lose Jordan

Pass-rush specialist B.T. Jordan is changing teams, but he told The Denver Gazette he still will be permitted to work with Broncos defensive linemen Zach Allen and John Franklin-Myers during the offseason.

Jordan was hired by Dallas as a consultant after working as a Denver consultant for several years. Allen and Franklin-Myers, who regularly have worked out with Jordan during the offseason, have talked about how much he has helped them.