Denver Broncos: Injury to Jeff Heuerman a Big Blow

One of the unfortunate story lines that often come about the first weeks after the NFL Draft is the slew of injuries that rookies suffer during minicamps.

This week alone, Dante Fowler, the third overall pick in the draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars,and Denver Broncos third-round pick Jeff Heuerman both tore their ACLs and each are expected to miss the entire 2015 season.

Fowler was projected to start after a stellar college career but Heuerman was also projected to come on strong in the Broncos offense despite not putting up huge stats while at Ohio State. The 6’6″ tight end is the most gifted athlete the Broncos have at the position and could have made a major impact if healthy.

The current starter is likely to be 10-year veteran Owen Daniels who played for Gary Kubiak, the Broncos’ new head coach, at Houston and at Baltimore, the latter in 2014 when Kubiak was offensive coordinator. Daniels totaled 48 receptions for 527 yards and four touchdowns for the Ravens this past season.

He is a serviceable tight end at this point in his career and will be a security blanket for quarterback Peyton Manning but he does not create mismatches or intimidate defenders. Heuerman’s size and speed alone make him a match-up nightmare and he could have been the vertical threat up the seam that Julius Thomas was for Broncos.

Virgil Green is also on the roster but he is almost the definition of an unknown commodity. Green was drafted in the seventh round way back in 2011 after a solid but unspectacular college career at the University of Nevada but has done little since. He has never posted more than nine catches or 75 yards in a season and it is a bit of a surprise that he has been on the team for this long.

This season could very well be his coming out party out of necessity because of Kubiak’s preference for two tight end sets but the Broncos also have veteran tight end James Casey available. Casey is the ultimate utility player and can contribute to a team in a number of ways but he has never proven to be a consistent receiving threat.

He had one good season in Houston under Kubiak and perhaps he can be utilized as more of a pass catcher than he has been the past few season in Philadelphia. The main advantage of having Casey on board is that he and Daniels are both very familiar with Kubiak’s offense having spent most of their careers in that system.

It is unfortunate that Heuerman suffered the injury when he did because he could have been that second or even first tight end for the Broncos by mid-season. Still, the Broncos drafted a gifted athlete with tremendous potential that can be their answer at the position for years to come. Now at this point Jeff Heuerman must focus on rehabbing his injury and at the least getting mentally up to speed with the pace of the NFL and getting ready to go in his sophomore season.

Next: Denver Broncos: 2015 NFL Draft Grades

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