Greg Dulcich

Dulcich has looked promising when on the field, but he has already had three hamstring injuries and a foot injury in his two-year NFL career, limiting Denver’s 2022 third-round draft pick to 12 out of a possible 34 games played, including only two in 2023. Dulcich has 36 catches for 436 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 59 targets in those 12 games, and if he can stay healthy enough to play, the 24-year-old tight end is likely to serve as the primary pass catcher at the position over Adam Trautman in a Broncos offense that’s likely to have rookie 12th overall pick Bo Nix under center. Trautman played all 17 games last season but produced only 204 yards and three touchdowns.

One of the few bright spots for Denver’s ugly offense in 2022 was Dulcich’s promising rookie campaign. A hamstring injury pushed his debut back to Week 6, but the third-round pick out of UCLA hit the ground running with a touchdown in his first game and proceeded to rack up 33 catches for 411 yards and two touchdowns over 10 games before missing the final two weeks with another hamstring injury. Recurring muscular injuries are worrisome, but the 23-year-old Dulcich is far from the first rookie to need an adjustment period to the rigors of NFL workouts and now gets another excellent chance to earn a lot of snaps. He played more than two-thirds of offensive snaps in nine of his 10 appearances as a rookie, and the guys challenging him for playing time now (offseason additions Chris Manhertz and Adam Trautman) aren't serious receiving threats. If nothing else, Dulcich figures to be on the field for obvious passing situations in new coach Sean Payton's offense.

The Broncos selected Dulcich in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and the UCLA product will likely play in a reserve role behind Albert Okwuegbunam. The rookie tight end is a talented pass catcher with the ability to stretch the field and make defenders miss, so in time there is a chance that he can emerge as a solid option on the passing game. Dulcich even had some buzz during OTAs, only to suffer a hamstring injury that lingered through training camp and sent him to the PUP list for an automatic four-game absence to start the regular season. The Broncos expect him back at full strength by Week 5.