Getting back to our positional grades series, it’s now time to look back at the tight ends for the Denver Broncos for 2019.
Tight end, at least in terms of having one that can stretch the field and be an offensive threat, is something the Broncos had lacked for quite some time. That is largely why the team used its first-round pick on a tight end in 2019.
Let’s take a look at how each of the team’s tight ends graded out this past season.
Noah Fant
Stats
Receptions: 40
Receiving yards: 562
Touchdowns: 3
Fant got off to a slow start for the team and there were some fans already frustrated over the fact that the team traded out of the No. 10 spot where it could have drafted Devin Bush and into the No. 20 slot where Fant was selected.
Perhaps some still are.
But Fant turned it on toward the end of the season and ended up being second on the team in receptions and receiving yards. With the ball in his hands, he becomes a serious threat, quick and agile for a tight end. That is what the Broncos drafted him for.
Fant played in all 16 games and earned some great experience. The ceiling is high for him and he should be expected to be one of the team’s best offensive weapons for many years to come.
Grade: B-
Jeff Heuerman
Stats
Receptions: 14
Receiving yards: 114
Touchdowns: 1
The Broncos once used a third-round pick on Heuerman but he has never materialized and will really never be more than a No. 2 tight end, at best.
He is not a threat to stretch the field and his career numbers are proof that he just isn’t much of an offensive weapon, leaving his future with the team in doubt. Of course, that was in doubt the moment Fant was selected.
Having just 14 receptions while playing in 14 games just doesn’t cut it, and the Broncos can do better for a backup tight end in the future.
Grade: D
Jake Butt
Butt missed the entire season after being placed on injured reserve due to complications from a previous injury.
For his entire career, Butt has eight catches for 85 yards. There’s not much more to say other than he has turned into one of the most disappointing players in recent team history.
Grade: I (Incomplete)
Troy Fumagalli
Stats
Receptions: 6
Receiving yards: 38
Touchdowns: 1
Fumagalli is another player that brought plenty of promise to the tight end position but none of that promise has ever materialized into results on the field.
If he can’t leap a guy like Heuerman in the pecking order, that’s not a good sign.
Grade: C-
Andrew Beck
Stats
Receptions: 9
Receiving yards: 90
Touchdowns: 1
Beck was claimed off waivers from the New England Patriots after final roster cuts were made and he ended up playing an integral role later in the season, serving as the team’s fullback in place of the injured Andy Janovich.
He caught a touchdown in the season finale against the Oakland Raiders and could prove to be a good depth player at the H-back position for the team across the next several years.
Grade: B
Austin Fort
Undrafted out of Wyoming, Fort had turned in a good summer and had an outside chance of making the 53-man roster before he suffered a torn ACL in a preseason game.
In two preseason games, Fort caught three passes for 28 yards but the team placed him on injured reserve and he will get a chance to build on what he had started in 2020.
Grade: I (Incomplete)
Overall grade
The Broncos had 69 total receptions out of the tight end position in 2019, which is an improvement, but it’s still just over four catches per game from the position.
The season went up in smoke for Butt and Fort and there is a good chance that Butt’s career in Denver did as well.
Heuerman and Fumagalli continue to produce minimally and neither guy seems to have much of a career in the league as a major offensive weapon.
Beck may have found a role on the roster or at least as a player to push other guys next season to prove they belong on the team.
Fant is without any doubt the tight end of the future. He’s athletically gifted and should only get better after a solid rookie year and he has all the ability to be one of the league’s top playmakers at the position.
Grade: C+
