Broncos on the Bubble: Jeff Heuerman | TE
It's that time of year between when OTAs end and training camp begins where we at Mile High Huddle begin scrutinizing those players on the Denver Broncos roster bubble. First up, veteran tight end Jeff Heuerman.
If there's a 'surprise cut' candidate on the Broncos roster currently, it's Heuerman. But only five years removed from being Denver's third-round draft pick, why is he on the prospective bubble?
We'll get to that. All will be known in due time. First, a look back at Heuerman's career in Denver.
Lost Rookie Year
Heuerman was a surprise pick for Denver, arguably one of Elway's most obvious reaches as a draft czar. Heuerman was the fourth tight end drafted in the class. I didn't talk to anyone following the 2015 draft who wasn't surprised by the pick.
Heuerman was absolutely an NFL-caliber prospect but of the early Day 3 variety. However, Elway and company had a different evaluation and designs for the former Ohio State Buckeye.
Heuerman arrived in Denver and promptly tore his ACL while covering a kickoff drill in rookie mini-camp. Alas, he would spend that storied season on injured reserve, though he still gets 'Super Bowl 50 champion' on his NFL resume.
It also marked the beginning of an unfortunate trend of Elway-drafted tight ends medically redshirting their rookie seasons.
From 2016-18, Heuerman served as a depth tight end behind Virgil Green mostly, appearing in 37 games with 18 starts. His most prolific season came in a contract year (2018) where he hauled in 31 receptions on 48 targets for 281 yards and two touchdowns.
The Broncos re-signed him that spring two a two-year, $9 million deal. However, that didn't stop the team from hedging its bet by drafting Noah Fant in the first round.
A Shifting Surface
The Broncos showed Heuerman the love but in back-to-back drafts, have added young, dynamic tight ends who are a direct threat to his standing. It's the job of the front office to prepare for future personnel losses by way of free agency.
In 2019, it was Fant. This past spring, as Heuerman enters another contract year, the Broncos drafted Albert Okwuegbunam in the fourth round — a tight end who actually runs faster than Fant and has history playing with Drew Lock in college.
That wasn't the only move the Broncos made, as one of Heuerman's old college teammates — Nick Vannett — was signed to a two-year, $5.7 million deal. The message to Heuerman? 'Yes, we paid you. But your contributions haven't been good enough.'
Reinforcements
Adding insult to injury, the Broncos have been exceedingly patient with 2017 fifth-round TE Jake Butt, who is himself entering a make-or-break training camp and a crucial contract year.
The fact that the team has so steadfastly stood behind Butt's chronic knee injuries doesn't guarantee him a roster spot this fall, but it does imply that the Broncos will give him every opportunity to succeed.
Throw in 2018 fifth-round TE Troy Fumagalli, plus the emergence of Andrew Beck, who was claimed off waivers on the doorstep of the 2019 regular season and would go on to make a modest impact as a fullback/H-back, and the game of numbers doesn't favor Heuerman in the least.
Monetary Gain
The Broncos have a logjam at tight end now and Heuerman, who started 11 games last year but only hauled in 11 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown, is comparatively expensive. The team can save $3.85M on the cap if Heuerman were to be cut.
Such a move would leave $500K on the books in dead money but if it meant getting some of these young draft picks more experience, it's a price the team wouldn't flinch at absorbing. So, does Heuerman even have a chance this summer?
Blocking Acumen
The short answer is 'yes', though it's nothing to write home about or rest on one's laurels over. The one advantage Heuerman has over his brethren in the TE room is his blocking prowess.
Heuerman might not be the second coming of Dwayne Carswell or Virgil Green as a blocker but he is by far the most accomplished blocking TE on the Broncos roster. Vannett is close, though, and could arguably be on equal footing blocking-wise.
How much that blocking ability will help Heuerman remains to be seen, though, as the scheme of new Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur traditionally only uses one TE on the field at a time. It would stand to reason that Shurmur would want that TE to be able to at least have modest ability as a blocker, so that opponents can't sell out on first and second down.
Surely, Shurmur will want to run the ball out of his preferred 11 personnel grouping, which puts the onus on whichever TE is on the field to at least be a willing blocker. Fant can check that box with aplomb.
Fant's blocking technique is still a work in progress and will probably never be his forte but he showed last year as a rookie a haphazard willingness to throw himself into it. The results were mixed.
But given another year to soak up TEs Coach Wade Harman's technical teachings, considering that Fant came from Tight End U (Iowa) where blocking isn't forsaken but is instead exalted, and Fant could very well take a leap forward as a passable blocker in 2020.
Bottom Line
If Heuerman is going to stick on the Broncos 53-man roster this year, he'll have to have the best training camp of his life and out-play Vannett. Because the team plans on throwing the ball a lot under Shurmur, it has prioritized the athletic, pass-catching TE.
But the Broncos will still need a little blocking help from the TE position in short-yardage and goal-line situations. Heuerman, Vannett, and Beck all check that box but holding onto Heuerman would come at a premium.
When the dust finally settles on the competition, it's hard to see Heuerman sticking around unless he clearly vanquishes Vannett. And with what is expected to be a shortened preseason this summer due to the pandemic, Heuerman might not get as many chances to prove he can be better than Vannett, especially with how many mouths there are to feed rep-wise at the TE position.
Do you see Heuerman sticking in 2020? Sound off in the comment section below!
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
