Elon punter Jeff Yurk earns Broncos rookie minicamp invitation

Denver’s rookie minicamp opened with a specialist worth watching: Elon punter Jeff Yurk earned an invitation after a 2025 season that saw him average 48.3 yards per punt, a number that ranked second in the FCS and third in all of college football.

Yurk, a two-time FCS All-American, left Elon as the program’s all-time leading punter and is now trying to turn elite college production into an NFL job. CBS Sports reporter Matt Zenitz first reported the Broncos’ invitation, giving the Southern Pines, North Carolina, product a chance to show he can carry his booming leg into a league that rarely gives punters many cracks.

The numbers that got him here were loud. Elon said Yurk earned first-team All-American honors from FCS Football Central and Stats Perform and second-team recognition from the Associated Press and the American Football Coaches Association. He was also a first-team All-CAA selection, and his 2025 season included 17 punts inside the 20-yard line and 24 punts of 50 yards or more. ESPN listed his final line at 52 punts for 2,510 yards, a 74-yard long and 17 inside the 20.

Yurk’s rise was not built on one hot month. He set Elon’s single-season punting average record in 2024 at 47.9 yards per punt, then topped that mark a year later. In September 2025, he authored his biggest single-game statement against Western Carolina, when he averaged 55.2 yards on six punts in a 37-31 Elon win. Five of those kicks traveled at least 50 yards, and one went 74 yards, a performance that earned him Stats Perform National Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

For the Broncos, the invitation fits a familiar NFL pattern. Denver brought 37 players to its rookie minicamp this weekend, including 29 rookies and eight tryout players, and the club has already shown it will invest in the position by drafting punter Jeremy Crawshaw in 2025. That gives Yurk a clear path and a clear test: prove his hang time, direction and consistency belong with NFL specialists, not just among the best legs in FCS football.