New Philadelphia Eagles tight end Albert Okwuegbunam is what's known as a traits-based prospect in NFL circles, a 6-5, 258-pound athletic marvel who ran a 4.49 40-yard dash coming out of Missouri in the 2020 draft.
Okwuegbunam, 25, flashed with the Broncos over his first three seasons after arriving as a fourth-round pick, but things never fully clicked in Denver with a torn ACL and a hamstring injury limiting his playing time. Over his first three seasons, Albert O. played in just 26 of a potential 50 regular-season games.
Denver decided it was time to turn the page on Okwuegbunam this summer and planned to waive the fourth-year player before the Eagles, who stood 31st in line when it came to potential claims, decided to swap positioning late in the 2025 draft to ensure they were going to be the ones giving the Illinois native a second chance.
The bookkeeping was Okwuegbunam and a 2025 seventh-round pick coming to Philadelphia for a 2025 sixth-round pick, the kind of low-risk, high-reward move that has turned Eagles GM Howie Roseman into a two-time Executive of the Year in the NFL.
"It's a fresh start," Okwuegbunam said after practice on Thursday. "So, I'm really excited about the opportunity to come in here, work my butt off and I got a great support system here. Great culture. And really I just look forward to being part of a great program."
The Eagles have one of the best tight ends in the NFL as their starter in Dallas Goedert and a backup that excels in the blocking game with Jack Stoll.
The plan was to add a second threat in the passing game with veteran Dan Arnold pushing second-year project Grant Calcaterra but Arnold didn't provide the competition hoped for this summer and the status quo was in place for Philadelphia until the Eagles made the move for Okwuegbunam, who closed the preseason with a 100-yard receiving game that again teased his impressive traits.
The performance wasn't enough for the Broncos to say let's let the final year of his rookie contract play out but it was enough for Roseman to take the flyer.
"First thing you talk about Albert, you talk about the physical ability," Roseman said. "He is 6-5. He is almost 260 pounds. He runs a 4.4. He’s got a huge wing span. He has really good lower-body flexibility for a big guy.
"We had a chance to watch him together, and obviously, Coach [Nick Sirianni] has had tremendous success with that position and some guys who look like this. So, bring him in here. He is 25 years old. We have some people in the building who were with Denver when they drafted him and give him an opportunity."
Matt Russell, the Eagles' senior personnel executive, was the Broncos' vice president of player personnel when Okwuegbunam was drafted so Philadelphia has a solid dossier on what Okwuegbunam can and can't do.
Despite his size, the book on Okwuegbunam is that he's more of a receiver than a blocker.
"[Blocking is[ definitely an area of my game that I've been working on," he admitted. "If you really look at what I've done recently, definitely improved in that area. Definitely not perfect and something that I'm definitely trying to improve. And that's one thing I look forward about working with my coach [Jason Michael] here."
For now, Okwuegbunam is one of four tight ends on a roster with no punter and serious question marks at punt returner and special teams coverage options.
Goedert is obviously safe as a potential Pro Bowl player while Stoll has earned the trust of the organization. It's hard to imagine the Eagles going deep into the season with four tight ends, however, so Okwuegbunam probably has a short window to win over the building and overtake Calcaterra.
"[The trade is] That's not a slight on the tight ends we have here," Roseman insisted. "We think Dallas is one of the best players at his position in the league, and we have two young players in, Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra, that we brought in here that we really like.
"For us, any time we have an opportunity to add an offensive player that we think can help us and help our team we look at that, so that's the reason we brought [Okwuegbunam] in."
The rest is up to Okwuegbunam finally turning projection into consistent production.
""I'm really hard worker. I really want to win," said Okwuegbunam. "I'm gonna do whatever it takes with this fresh start to get that done."
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