Denver Broncos Add Depth At Tight End, Select Albert Okwuegbunam In The 4th-Round

By Jordan Long

In rounds 4 through 7 of the NFL Draft, Denver was looking for the best player available.  Two of Denver’s Hall of Famers were drafted in those late rounds.  Terrell Davis was a 6^th-round selection in 1995 while Shannon Sharpe, who some argue is the best tight end to ever play the game, was drafted in the 7^th round in 1990.  The Broncos decided to draft tight end Albert Okwuegbunam in the 4^th round.

                 Okwuegbunam played his college football at the University of Missouri from 2017 to 2019.  Broncos’ quarterback Drew Lock is familiar with Okwuegbunam.  Lock was Okwuegbunam’s quarterback in 2017 and 2018.

Okwuegbunam stats don’t jump out, but he was productive in college.  He appeared in 27 games for the University of Missouri.  In those games, he caught 98 passes for 1,187 yards and 23 touchdowns.  When Okwuegbunam caught the football, it was for 1^st downs, averaging 12.1 yards per catch. 

                The Broncos knew they needed tight end help.  Last year, they selected Noah Fant.  Fant totaled 562 yards and 3 touchdowns in his rookie year.  He proved to be a large target for Lock. Troy Fumagalli was the only other tight end who played significant time last year.  He appeared in 11 games but was mostly used to block.  Fumagalli caught 9 passes for 38 yards and 1 touchdown.

After Fumagalli and Fant, Denver’s tight ends couldn’t stay healthy. Jeff Heuerman is the veteran but hasn’t played a full season since Denver drafted him in 2015.  He tore his ACL in 2015, dealt with a hamstring injury in 2016 and broken ribs in 2018.   Jake Butt was picked by Denver in 2017.  He played in 3 games in his career because he is dealing with an ACL tear.

                Okwuegbunam fits the need at tight end for Denver.  He will have his chance to compete to be the 2^nd tight end behind Fant.  At worst he can be the backup if any other tight ends on the team beat him out. Okwuegbunam must prove he can play at the NFL level.  He showed what he can do in college but the NFL is a different game.  His size at 6 foot 5 inches should create mismatches.  Lock will look his way and those catches might be large gains.  This was a smart draft pick for Denver.  The grade on it is a B+.