Broncos Call on TE Okwuegbunam to 'Potentially Help' vs. Chiefs
Albert Okwuegbunam is coming out of mothballs for Sunday's home meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The dog-housed Denver Broncos tight end, who hasn't caught a pass since Oct. 6, could "potentially help" the team's injury-ruined offense, per its mastermind.
"We have to [activate Okwuegbunam]—it’s all hands on deck," Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett said Wednesday. "We have to get everybody out there to see what they can do—find the matchups that we can and get that rhythm however we can.”
Such is the state of Denver's pass-catching unit, reduced to a skeleton crew with wide receiver KJ Hamler (hamstring) on injured reserve and WR Courtland Sutton (hamstring) unlikely to suit up versus Kansas City. This, of course, after losing WR Tim Patrick (IR) prior to the season.
A third-year pro, Okwuegbunam entered 2022 with sky-high hype, bandied as an athletic seam-stretcher for quarterback Russell Wilson. However, following a five-catch effort at Seattle, his playing time steadily diminished — from 44 offensive snaps in Week 1, to one snap in Week 4, to healthy-scratched in Week 6 (and beyond).
Relegated to fourth on the depth chart, Okwuegbunam has just seven receptions for 50 scoreless yards across five appearances. His sixth will come against the AFC West-leading Chiefs, whose beatable secondary ranks 23rd in pass defense.
Look for the Broncos to feature dual-TE sets consisting of Okwuegbunam and third-round rookie Greg Dulcich, the club's leading receiver in last week's loss to Baltimore.
"We still want to be multiple; we don’t want to just lock in on one so that they know what to prepare for," Hackett said. "You want to be sure that we still have all the different personnel that we utilize. It’s something that we’re going to have to keep diving into because you never know what’s going to happen on game day.”
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