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Denver Broncos: James Casey is Unsung Addition

By Khaled Abdallah

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The Denver Broncos continued their impressive yet quiet offseason with the addition of versatile James Casey in a move announced by the team on April 11th. Casey spent the last two years of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles after spending the first four years of his career with the Houston Texans. The Texans drafted Casey in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft and they knew immediately that they had a versatile player on their hands.

The Texans and Gary Kubiak used Casey in a variety of ways and even switched him over to full-time starter at the fullback position in 2011. Casey, along with an excellent Houston offensive line, paved the way for Arian Foster and Ben Tate to have spectacular rushing seasons. Foster and Tate combined for 2,100 yards with Foster leading the way with 1,200 of his own.

In 2012, Casey moved back to tight end and had a solid season as Owen Daniels‘ backup with 34 catches and 330 yards. He signed with the Eagles in 2013 and has not had more than theee catches in his two seasons there. None of those statistics are eye-popping by any means but the one figures that is are the number of plays Casey has been a part of in the last three years.

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He is the only player in the NFL to play 900-plus downs on offense, special teams, and defense combined in the last 3 seasons. According to Marc Sessler of NFL.com he lead the NFL in special teams downs with 439 just last season. He is an excellent blocker at the line of scrimmage and is equally adept at lead blocking out of the backfield.

The Broncos were poor on special teams last season and Casey would provide an immediate upgrade in that department. According to Football Outsiders, Denver was 27th in the NFL in special teams while Philadelphia was ranked first. How much of that was to do with Casey is unclear but the Broncos clearly have much room for improvement.

Casey has shown his versatility with both Houston and Philadelphia and last season he lined up all over the field for the Eagles. He lined up as a fullback, in the slot, and out wide in the Eagles’ uptempo offense. He was never able to displace Brent Celek as the Eagles’ starting tight end but he showed his value to the team in a number of other ways.

The Broncos now have three tight ends who will try to make up for the loss of Julius Thomas who signed a big-money deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Daniels, Casey, and Virgil Green will never be the vertical offensive threats that Thomas was but each will be tasked with different responsibilities to compensate. Green is the more athletic of the bunch but Daniels is the better pass catcher.

Casey is the better pass blocker of the three and he will likely see plenty of time in two tight end sets. Kubiak may also deploy him in the backfield like he did in Houston to try and add more physicality to the Broncos rushing attack. One obvious advantage to signing James Casey is that he is very familiar with Gary Kubiak’s offense. He and Daniels spent most of their careers with Kubiak in Houston and there will be no learning curve this offseason for the duo.

The fans will not be lining up to see James Casey and not many will go out and buy his jersey but this is the type of signing that helps strengthen the foundation of a team. The Broncos did not have much cap room to start with this offseason but they have done well to make smart, underrated signings to fill the holes in the roster.

Next: Denver Broncos Seven-Round 2015 NFL Mock Draft

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