Russell Wilson Gushes Over Broncos' Record-Setting Rookie TE

Better late than never.

At least, that's the Denver Broncos' outlook on rookie tight end Greg Dulcich. Dulcich spent the first five weeks of the 2022 season on injured reserve, but was activated ahead of Denver's Week 6 road loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Dulcich had himself a debut, becoming the 11th player in Broncos' history to tally a receiving touchdown in his first NFL game, and just the third Bronco tight end to ever do it. Dulcich joins former Broncos tight ends Reggie Johnson (1991 vs. Cin.) and Clarence Kay (1984 vs. Cin.) as the only players at the position to do it.

It should could have been more. Dulcich was targeted three times, hauling in two receptions for 44 yards and that score. But he was open several times where quarterback Russell Wilson failed to see him.

On Wednesday, as the Broncos try to put Monday night's disappointing loss behind them, Wilson took to the podium for his weekly presser and absolutely gushed over Dulcich's NFL debut.

“Dulcich was amazing out there," Wilson said. "I think just anytime—I’m so happy for him. Anytime you get to play your first NFL game—I go back to my first NFL game. My first touchdown pass, I threw it to [former Seahawks WR] Sidney Rice."

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Wilson sees big things on the horizon for the Broncos' rookie tight end.

"I think Dulcich is going to have a lot of great moments," Wilson said, "and I can’t wait to have a lot of great moments together.”

The Broncos selected Dulcich in the third round (pick 80) out of UCLA earlier this year. The former Bruins walk-on success story suffered a rather serious and lingering hamstring injury during offseason workouts and missed most of training camp and the preseason.

But fans got to see on Monday night why the Broncos were so ecstatic to land Dulcich in the draft. Wearing the No. 80 signifies the selection the Broncos made in him on draft day.

Now, if Wilson can find a way to improve his vision, the Broncos should be able to capitalize on Dulcich's playmaking ability, especially in the wake of Albert Okwuegbunam's failure to launch as this team's TE1. Okwuegbunam was a healthy scratch on Monday, as Dulcich apparently usurped him in the lineup.

However, reading between the lines of what head coach Nathaniel Hackett had to say about Okwuegbunam on Wednesday, the Broncos don't sound like they're ready to give up on the third-year tight end.

“We need everybody on this team," Hackett said. "I wish we can have everybody up. Unfortunately, we don’t get every single person up. Dulcich was looking healthy, and we wanted to give him an opportunity. We had to make a decision on that one, and we went with Dulcich.”

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