Breaking Down the 2020 Broncos: How the TEs Fit With Shurmur Onboard

For the Denver Broncos, no position was affected more by the change at offensive coordinator than the tight ends. How can that be true?

The answer is easy when you break it down player-by-player. OC Pat Shurmur runs a scheme that doesn’t value tight ends as much as it does wide receivers, and with a lot of 11 personnel (3WR sets), there aren’t as many reps for the tight ends.

Noah Fant will get his chances, and will likely have a big role in the offense as the TE1. It's a safe bet that Fant will have a usage similar to what Evan Engram had with the New York Giants under Pat Shurmer and Kyle Rudolph had with the Minnesota Vikings.

Fant and Engram, in particular, are quite similar, so Shurmur will have plays designed for Fant, and there is the whole case of Fant being a second-year first-round pick, which means the Broncos aren't going to want to give up on him any time soon.

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Fant's stock might have been helped by the changes to the scheme, but the prospects of every other tight end on the roster was hurt. There just isn’t a large number of plays with Shurmur that require two tight ends on the field.

That means Jeff Heuerman, Andrew Beck, Jake Butt, Troy Fumagalli, Austin Fort, and Bug Howard are all battling for what is likely only two additional depth spots behind Fant on the 53-man roster.

How could each guy fit in Shurmur's scheme? I break that down in the video above.

Before the change at offensive coordinator, and the scheme, the Broncos could have used another tight end that has a versatile skill-set. That player would’ve added more competition as a blocker and a receiver.

With the changes, though, the Broncos are fine going forward with the tight ends they already have, essentially removing the position as a roster need moving forward.

Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel and @MileHighHuddle.

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