Following the 2022 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos came to terms with tight end Rodney Williams as an undrafted free agent.
The Broncos placed a lot of focus on the tight end position during and immediately after the draft. Despite selecting UCLA’s Greg Dulcich with a third-round pick, the Broncos also signed two undrafted free agents at the position before also bringing Eric Saubert back into the mix.
One of those undrafted players was Tennessee-Martin’s Rodney Williams.
Name: Rodney Williams
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 235 pounds
School: Tennessee-Martin
Prior to the draft, the Broncos had a thin tight end room and they have now filled it with plenty of extra bodies to create competition. Williams will be at the back end of that.
During his college career, Williams posted 99 receptions for a little over 1,200 receiving and seven touchdowns at a small school. He is a unique player for the position and brings plenty of athleticism to the Broncos.
Williams was not on the radar of any draft analyst and was expected to go undrafted. However, he went to a team that could use more in the way of receiving help at the tight end position.
Chances of making the final 53-man roster (1-10 scale): 3
The Broncos have a lot of options in terms of blocking tight ends on the roster with Saubert, Eric Tomlinson and Andrew Beck all vying for roster spots. The team also already parted ways with last year’s undrafted free-agent tight end, Shaun Beyer.
But the team already has Albert Okwuegbunam and Dulcich in place and those two players should be counted on to handle 90 percent of the action as far as receiving goes at the tight end position. The Broncos will then keep one or two of the other guys for depth and blocking.
Williams will likely not be a part of that but with the league recently announcing that up to 16 players can be placed on the practice squad this season, Williams could do enough to show that his skills could be further developed in order to perhaps earn a bigger role on the team in the future.