Denver Broncos: Who will emerge from tight end derby?
The rest
The real questions at the tight end position in terms of which guys will be part of next year’s squad revolve around the other five guys on the roster.
Heuerman, Vannett, Fumagalli, Butt and Okwuegbunam. Each of these guys has weaknesses but they all flashed the potential at some point to catch the eye of the Broncos as four of these five guys were drafted by the team.
Assuming that Fant will make the team and Fort will be cut, then it is likely that three of these guys will get a spot on next year’s roster. Let’s also assume that one of those guys will be the most recent draft pick, Okwuegbunam.
That leaves the other four guys to battle for two spots.
Heuerman and Vannett are basically the same player as both guys can chip in as receivers but will be used mostly in blocking situations to help open up holes in the running game. Vannett was signed as a free agent this offseason and will be cheaper to keep around than Heuerman.
Will the Broncos keep both of them? That’s entirely possible but it doesn’t seem like that decision would best serve the team.
Instead, one of the other two guys, Butt or Fumagalli, needs to step up and make something happen.
Most fans would like to see that be Butt, who had first-round talent the year he came out prior to tearing up his knee in the Orange Bowl to close that season.
The injury problems have now cast a black cloud over Butt’s career as he had missed nearly all of his three seasons with the Broncos and as a result, has only eight career catches.
Fumagalli has just six career catches but has at least scored a touchdown. Injuries have bothered him a bit too but if I were a betting man, I’d give Fumagalli better odds to stick around than Butt. However, it’s quite possible that both of them will be gone.
As of this moment, here is how I would rank the Broncos’ tight ends, with the top four guys making this year’s team and the other three looking for their next stop or their next career move.
Of course, things could change over the summer.
- Fant
- Vannett
- Heuerman
- Okweugbunam
- Fumagalli
- Butt
- Fort
Make that of it what you will, but for the record, I don’t believe that Heuerman and Vannett will both make the roster.