Garrett Graham an underrated pickup for Broncos
The Denver Broncos signed TE Garrett Graham before the 2016 NFL Draft, adding a veteran tight end who has seen his best success in Gary Kubiak’s offense…
The Denver Broncos made a sly move before the draft, adding veteran tight end Garrett Graham to shore up the position that seems to be a favored one for Kubiak through the years.
Kubiak has collected tight ends and some pretty darn good ones through the years, including bringing in Owen Daniels last season to Denver. Daniels, who had spent every year of his NFL career with Kubiak, was let go by the Broncos earlier this offseason to add some extra cap space.
Looking for some veteran help on the cheap, the Broncos called Graham, another former Gary Kubiak player from his time in Houston and a former teammate of Daniels both with the Texans and the Wisconsin Badgers.
Graham was let go by the Texans this offseason after two years struggling in the Bill O’Brien offense. He had his worst season since he was a rookie in 2015, catching just four passes on 19 targets and dropping another four passes.
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Usually sure-handed, Graham dropped more passes last year than the previous two years combined, including a season in which he was targeted 88 times (only 1 drop that season).
Now back in the Kubiak offense, Graham is hoping for a revival of sorts in his NFL career. He says he’s preparing for every possible role he might have in the offense.
“I’ve been learning both [blocking and receiving] right now and getting back into the groove of doing both of them. I think it’s good to know both, be able to do both and be able to do all three when we go three tight ends. Right now, [I’m] just getting back into things. Whatever I’m asked to do, I’m going to try and do that.”
After years of playing with Houston, Graham is excited to be part of a team that is coming off of a Super Bowl title, the third in their history.
“I’m extremely grateful to be here. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity and especially to come to an organization like this, a team like this. I’ve seen what that defense did last year—it’s incredible. I’m just very happy to be a part of it.”
So what does this guy bring to the table? I don’t think 2015 was indicative of where he’s at in terms of his ability as a pass catcher, as dropped balls were never part of his scouting report in the past. Graham is usually sure-handed, and his new teammate Virgil Green said he hasn’t seen him let a ball hit the ground yet this offseason.
“Watching Garrett, he has a great hands,” Green said. “I haven’t seen him drop a ball yet.”
He may have dropped as many passes last year as he caught, but he didn’t drop this one:
In his last season in the Kubiak offense (2013), Graham caught 49 passes for 545 yards and five touchdowns, all career highs. The Texans’ new staff gave him an extension in 2014, but it didn’t work out like they’d all hoped.
With Virgil Green expected to be the team’s ‘top’ tight end this season, Graham should contend for snaps behind he and second-year player Jeff Heuerman, who the team has high hopes for. Graham is just eager to play whatever role this offense is willing to give him.