Broncos tight ends trying to get untracked

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — For the Denver Broncos at tight end last week, it was time for a change. Greg Dulcich was out — at least for one game — after four weeks in which he accumulated just 28 yards on five catches with two drops. Lucas Krull was in.

“I wanted to change it up,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.

For that, he can’t be blamed. The tight end position has struggled to generate pass-catching production during Payton’s 22-game stewardship, and hasn’t been a consistent receiving threat since Dulcich had a promising 10-game stint as a rookie in 2022 before yet another hamstring injury ended his campaign.

This year, injuries aren’t the problem for Dulcich. But the production hasn’t come. And given that Dulcich has never played a special-teams snap in his NFL career, a game-day spot was difficult to justify when Krull can contribute in that phase.

“Now, [Krull] helped us a little bit in the kicking game,” Payton said. “They both run well, and … both of them have similarities.”

Payton emphasized that the decision would be “week-to-week.” But there was little reason not to shake it up and see whether Krull could build on the momentum he built at the end of last season.

He had one catch last week. So, it’s too early to tell. But a strong mindset helped Krull stay on point even as he spent the first four weeks watching games in sweats.

“He has a great personality in that he’s always up,” said fellow tight end Adam Trautman, a teammate of Krull’s for the last three seasons. “Like, he’s always got high energy, he’s very competitive, and you could see it during the practices when he’s inactive and he’s on scout team and making sure he’s staying ready in case he ever does come up or did come up, obviously.”

Broncos TE Adam Trautman, who has played alongside Lucas Krull for the last 3 seasons, says that Krull handled his 4 weeks of being inactive before playing last week well because he kept a positive mindset.

“He has a great personality in that he’s always up,” Trautman said.… pic.twitter.com/14yhiMRO3H

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 12, 2024

This is the most significant area of growth for Krull, Trautman noted.

But the Broncos need more than progress from their tight ends. They need pass-catching production. And one number shows just where they stand.

79

Receiving yards accumulated by Broncos tight ends in Weeks 1-5. That is the lowest collective tally for a tight-end group in the NFL heading into Week 6. Denver is the only team with fewer than 100 receiving yards from its tight ends through five games.

The Broncos are also last in first downs earned by tight ends, with 2.

The NFL average for team-wide, per-game tight-end receiving production through five weeks is 4.6 catches for 44.9 yards. Denver’s averages are 2.2 receptions and 15.8 yards.

10-3

That is the record of the Los Angeles Chargers when they run the ball at least 47 percent of the time during games started by quarterback Justin Herbert. This includes both of their wins this season, when they opened the campaign with triumphs over the Las Vegas Raiders and the Carolina Panthers.

But when the Chargers run the ball less than 35 percent of the time, they’re 7-19 with Herbert at quarterback. They’re 15-13 in between the afore-mentioned extremes.

Maintaining a ground game and protecting Herbert is key, because …

16-6

… is their record when Herbert is sacked one or fewer times. Get to him two or more times, and the Chargers are 16-29 during his time as starter.

Into this equations step the Broncos, who have 19 sacks through 5 games so far this season. Denver’s sack tally leads the AFC and ranks third in the NFL behind the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings.

And one more number:

9

That is the number of wins the Broncos have over the Chargers at home in the last 10 seasons.

The Broncos have more wins in Denver over the Chargers than they do over their other AFC West rivals combined. Since 2014, Denver is 9-1 against the Chargers at home, compared with 2-8 against the Chiefs and 6-5 against the Raiders.

Denver also has a three-game home winning streak against divisional foes. A win Sunday would give them their longest home divisional win streak in a decade, since they defeated their AFC West rivals four consecutive times in the 2014 calendar year (playoff win over San Diego in January 2014, regular-season wins over their division foes in the 2014 regular season).