Bye: Butt injury an ‘incredible letdown’ with Keenum’s TE history

Sep 28, 2018, 2:58 PM

Tight end Jake Butt #80 turns up field after a catch on day 2 of Denver Broncos training camp at the UCHealth Training Center July 29, 2018 in Englewood, Colorado. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

(Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

With Jake Butt out for the season with a torn ACL, not only is Denver Broncos quarterback Case Keenum down a weapon on offense but potentially one of his main targets.

On Friday, “Stokley and Zach” co-host Zach Bye called Butt’s injury an “incredible letdown” because of the trajectory toward him being one of Keenum’s go-to guys on offense.

“You’re not going to see the best of Case Keenum without a legitimate, or at the very bare minimum competent, pass-catching tight end,” Bye said.

Denver will likely turn to Jeff Heuerman, whom Bye said passed the eye test early this season, as the main pass-catching tight end. But in the end, Heuerman is just not Butt.

“It felt like you finally found one,” Bye said of Butt. “Through three games, Jake Butt: four different first down passes, two plays over 20 yards or more, influential in that game-winning drive against the Raiders. It felt like the Broncos found their guy.”

In statistically the best season of his career in 2017, Keenum targeted Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph 81 times for 57 receptions and 532 yards, all ranked third on the roster.

Comparatively, since 2015 no Broncos quarterbacks have not targeted the tight end more than 37 times per season.

“Kyle Rudolph wasn’t a 1,000-yard receiver under Case Keenum. He was about 550 yards. And that needed to be the threshold for someone operating in the middle of the field because the Broncos haven’t had that for a couple of years now, a number of years,” Bye said.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.