Denver Broncos roster overview: Tight end position

Jeff Heuerman

Age: 26
2019 salary cap hit: $3.1875 million
Years under contract: 2

Although Jeff Heuerman’s NFL career got off to a horrific start, he’s bounced back rather admirably the past two seasons.

Heuerman tore his ACL as a rookie in his first minicamp, the year after the Broncos lost Julius Thomas to the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency.

Heuerman was supposed to play a role in replacing Thomas but went on IR instead.

In year two, he again struggled with injuries, and that has unfortunately been a theme throughout his career.

Heuerman started eight games from 2016-17, but became the Broncos’ full-time starter in 2018 and played really well.

He set a career mark with 31 receptions for 281 yards and matched his career high from 2017 with two touchdown catches. He had an impressive 10-reception game against the Houston Texans showing what he could do with a high volume of targets.

Heuerman has mostly been known for his blocking, but he’s a pretty darn good receiver and you never know what’s going to happen with him in the open field after the catch. He’s really made a habit of just shoving people out of the way.

Heuerman is an underrated athlete and a very good player after the catch. As quarterback Joe Flacco said at OTAs, Heuerman doesn’t get many opportunities (he’s been targeted 86 times in three seasons) but when he does, he tends to make the most of them.

He was re-signed this past Spring and is the last remaining member of the Broncos’ 2015 draft class on the team. Hopefully, he can work in tandem with the other players on the roster for the next two seasons, and we’ll see what happens after that.

Heuerman is coming off of IR this year with a rib injury, but his payday and the fact that he wasn’t limited in OTAs indicate the Broncos feel good about where he’s at health-wise.