The Denver Summit selected Colorado State quarterback Evander Holt with the No. 1 overall pick in the DFL Draft, giving the expansion franchise what team officials described as its first cornerstone player ahead of its inaugural season.

In a press release issued Saturday, the Summit said Holt is a Larimer County native who will remain in Colorado as he begins his professional career in Denver. The selection is the first draft pick in franchise history for the new DFL team.

Owner Lila Grant framed the move as both a football decision and a symbolic start for the organization. “We searched for a franchise quarterback and found a franchise leader,” Grant said in the release. She added that Holt represents the kind of disciplined and composed player she wants the Summit to become and called his return to Colorado “a better beginning” for the club.

The Summit’s announcement emphasized Holt’s local ties and leadership background. According to the release, he was raised in Larimer County in a family centered on education and service, with a father who worked as a high school principal and a mother who coached youth basketball. The team also said Holt was repeatedly elected to leadership councils at Colorado State and was trusted to mentor younger players.

The release said scouts credited Holt with “rare football intelligence” and calmness under pressure, qualities the Summit believe fit the team’s long-term plans. Head coach Colton Rigsbee said Holt was the kind of quarterback a team can build around because he makes those around him better.

“This is home, and this means everything,” Holt said in the release. “I’m not here for the spotlight. I’m here to work, earn my teammates’ trust, and bring Denver something to be proud of.”

The choice gives Rigsbee and offensive coordinator Jamarcus Ellison-Bey a quarterback for what the team described as a timing-based offensive system. The press release did not provide further details on how quickly Holt is expected to start, but the language used by team leaders suggested he is central to Denver’s early identity.

For the Summit, the selection also extends a busy opening chapter for the franchise. Prior reporting said Denver recently joined the DFL as an expansion team and that Grant became the league’s first Black woman owner. The drafting of a home-state quarterback gives the organization an early public face as it begins building its roster and fan base.

Expansion teams often use top draft picks to establish both competitive direction and market identity, and the Summit’s announcement leaned heavily on both ideas. Team officials repeatedly described Holt as a foundation piece rather than simply a first selection, with Grant saying, “Every great franchise starts with a foundation. Ours has a name.”

Because the Summit are entering their first season, attention is likely to focus on whether Holt can translate local expectations into on-field production. The press release offered no statistical review of his college career and did not outline the rest of Denver’s draft strategy, concentrating instead on his leadership profile and fit with the coaching staff.

The pick is likely to resonate locally because of Holt’s background in northern Colorado and his college career at Colorado State. For Denver, that creates an immediate connection between the new franchise and a player who already carries name recognition in the state.

The Summit’s message Saturday was clear: the team sees Holt not only as its top draft choice, but as the player it wants to place at the center of its launch. Whether that vision holds will depend on his transition to the DFL, but in the franchise’s first public draft moment, Denver chose a quarterback from home and presented him as the start of everything to come.