Broncos' HC Nathaniel Hackett Praises 'Swiss Army Knife' TE Andrew Beck
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Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett has revealed just how much he dislikes cutting ties with players he genuinely feels are part of his football family. Five more pieces of the training camp puzzle hit the bricks on Tuesday, and with the cut-down to the final 53-man roster only a week away, just sticking around is everything.
Bringing a multi-dimensional ability to the table might be the ace in the hole for any player still desperate to make a living playing pro football, especially when you occupy the lower end of an NFL roster.
One such utility type player is Andrew Beck, whose value to the Broncos was highlighted when Hackett talked about the tight end/fullback hybrid's specific attributes.
“He's a guy that has come out here and played that swing position,” Hackett said on Tuesday. “He's been both fullback, he's been on the line, he's been a ‘Y’ [tight end] during 11-personnel, so he's a guy that is kind of like a Swiss army knife. He can do so many different things.”
For Beck, it should come as a shot in the arm to hear his head coach speak so highly of his versatile skill set, but with a week left before D-Day, he's still riding a roller coaster of possibilities.
Mastering the tight end spot is hard enough — never mind getting all the nuances of the fullback position down just right. The NFL is largely making the fullback position obsolete and more's the pity.
Coach Hackett feels a little differently, mainly because he sees in Beck his potential to kill two birds with one stone, and cover a pair of spots on his 53-man roster. When you add in Beck's unique ability to catch the ball further down the field, you can see why Hackett likes having him around.
“He does a really good job stretching the field down vertically, but also has done a really good job learning the fullback position and how we want to do it. So where that goes, you never know,” Hackett said. “We want to be as multiple as possible. We want to take advantage of defenses, so as much as we can utilize him in that role, we will.”
The Broncos' crowded tight end room will be a tough nut to crack, but Beck has the advantage of possessing the football intelligence to also learn the fullback position, which provides his coach with another club to add to his bag, and that certainly helps Hackett with his overall shot selection.
Most importantly for Beck, it gives him a chance to not only stick around but make a tangible contribution this season — if he can survive next week's final roster cuts.
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