Film Room: Rookie TE Greg Dulcich will Stretch the Field for Broncos
With the 80th overall selection of the 2022 NFL draft, the Denver Broncos selected UCLA tight end Greg Dulcich. A former wide receiver in high school that transitioned to tight end in college, Dulcich brings a fascinating story and a ton of potential as a raw prospect at the position.
Dulcich was originally recruited by Washington State to play wide receiver by coach Derek Sage. Sage eventually moved to UCLA, as did Dulcich. The young talent had to walk on as a Bruin, eventually earning a scholarship before his junior season. From there, Dulcich became one of the best tight ends in the nation.
In 2021, Dulcich earned All-PAC-12 honors behind his 17.3 yards per reception production that ranked second in all of college football among tight ends.
The Broncos had a massive need to bolster the depth of the tight end room and were able to land a fine vertical threat with a rather large catch radius who has high upside as a potential starter in the NFL. Dulcich possesses a lot of nuances in his route running as he finds open holes in zone coverage to easily exploit, as well as some smooth transitions in his breaks to beat man coverage.
I checked out his tape against USC, LSU, Utah, and Arizona State to get a better look at Denver's potential starting tight end for 2022.
Vertical Threat Confirmed
In this first play, we see Dulcich on the deep over route running roughshod through the LSU secondary. This play was incredibly set up and well designed and could potentially look similar to what the Broncos are going to ask from Dulcich this season.
With new head coach Nathaniel Hackett emphasizing the outside zone running game and play-action passing coming off of the bootleg, this is a great look at the potential of Dulcich as a vertical threat for the Broncos.
Another nice aspect of this play is his ability to slip tackles with a nose for the end zone. You don't average 17.3 yards per reception as a tight end without the ability to break some tackles in space, something Dulcich often showed at UCLA this past season.
Route Running Ability
We're going to look at a pair of plays here to show that Dulcich, who is known for his straight-line speed more than lateral agility, still can run sharp routes with smooth transitions in his hips.
First, a great look against Arizona State in man coverage where Dulcich runs a sharp out route coming out of the slot. Notice how his feet chop at top of the stem to set up the defender to the inside, and his hip transition explodes on a dime coming out of the break. This is a great display of the nuance required to be a technician as a route runner.
With the ball behind him a hair, Dulcich adds a few extra yards with balance and strength to break the open field tackle and get physical with the ball in his hands.
This second play is a master class coming out of the slot to pressure the safety vertically, then cross face for the touchdown. You'll see the snappy footwork to get an inside release on the linebacker plus a one-step plant and drive to the vacated area in the endzone. It's absolutely textbook route running like this that can ease his transition as a player that is still relatively new to the position.
An immense Catch Radius
With soft hands and great length comes a catch radius the size of a trampoline, and Dulcich has everything required to attack the football away from his body and come down with it. While there are some scenarios where you would like to see him "box-out" in contested catch situations, the tools are there for him to become a quality threat as a check-down, over-the-middle-of-the-field target as defenders collapse around him.
In this play, we get a good look at how large Dulcich's catch radius is, as well as some nice body control down the sideline. This ball is drastically overthrown, but Dulcich climbs the ladder, catches the ball smoothly at full extension, and manages to keep himself in bounds for another explosive play.
There are other great examples of Dulcich catching the ball away from his body in smaller throwing windows, but this play caught my eye with the athleticism needed to make this play.
Blocking... At Least Effort is There
What makes playing tight end so difficult is that you have to be able to wear multiple hats and fill multiple roles in the scheme. While Dulcich shows the ability to step in quickly as a receiver, there are a lot of flaws in his ability as a blocker. With Dulcich being a newer player at the position, this is fairly reasonable and also expected.
There are strength, footwork, and technical flaws to his blocking game. All of which will take time at the next level to refine. However, there is no doubt that he is willing to get physical at the point of attack, and he does incredibly well at the second level in digging out linebackers and safeties in the run game.
This first play highlights the strength and footwork aspect of his deficiencies. His hand placement is nice off the snap, but a quick push-pull from the LSU defender allows him to get free and blow up the play. His feet die on impact, and his pads get too high too quickly. This is only one of several plays that highlight his need to get better as an in-line blocker at the point of attack.
In our second play, we highlight what Dulcich does well as a blocker with his tenacity. It's far from perfect, but this play against Utah shows the understanding of hand placement and leverage to open a hole for the back.
Dulcich's outside hand gets under the shoulder pad and turns the defender back to the inside, showing perfect alignment and a target for the running back to attack as the hole opens up.
It'll take some time, but Dulcich has the right mentality to become a solid blocker just based on his effort value alone.
What we Learned
The first thing that jumps off the page with Dulcich is his ability to create separation with his understanding of coverages, a tool that he undoubtedly acquired with his background as a wide receiver. We didn’t dive into that ability in this film room, but rest assured that Dulcich does a great job at exploiting zone coverage as he sits down in the soft spot to show a big target for the quarterback to deliver the football to.
Secondly is his ability to stretch the field vertically down the seam and over the middle of the field with his linear speed. Dulcich has longer strides that take some time to get to full speed, but when he gets out in open space he is incredibly difficult to track down. He also does a nice job with speed variation and body angles to help set up defenders at the top of the stem of the route, and that massive catch radius could see him become a legitimate threat in the red zone.
While it may take some time to develop as a blocker, specifically in technique and strength, there is still a role for Dulcich to see the field early and often in the Broncos' offense. With Albert Okwuegbunam and Eric Tomlinson — both with major concerns of their own — as the top options on the depth chart at tight end, Dulcich has a big opportunity in front of him to become an impact player sooner rather than later.
Dulcich might just be the most well-rounded player on the roster at the position at this point despite his limitations at the point of attack. On second glance and based on what we have heard coming out of OTAs over the past couple of weeks, it appears that he is a perfect fit for what this offense wants to do.
Despite the limitations as a blocker, Dulcich could be the starting tight end for the Broncos this season.
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