Which selection from the Denver Broncos’ 2022 NFL draft class will wind up as the best draft selection in GM George Paton’s second crop? While every fan and analyst will have differing opinions as to which selection will wind up as the most impactful and the best value from the draft, no one is certain how it will play out.
The combination of where a player fell in the draft, their evaluation as a prospect, and the situational opportunity as to where he lands are baked into the formula as to a team’s “best” selection from the 2022 draft.
For ESPN’s draft analyst Todd McShay, the Broncos' best selection was tight end Greg Dulcich whom Paton selected in the third round with the 80th overall selection. A player McShay and Mel Kiper, Jr. connected to the Broncos’ pre-draft process, the Broncos were not only able to land a big-play receiving tight end, but traded down from pick 75 to 80 (plus pick 162 back to Denver) in the process.
Why did McShay believe Dulcich to be the Broncos' best selection made? It has a little something to do with Russell Wilson.
He’s the best seam-stretcher in this year’s tight end class, and I can already picture Wison finding him deep for big gains. Dulcich has long arms to make tough catches away from his body and the speed to separate and produce after the catch. His 17.3 yards per reception ranked second in the FBS among tight ends last season. Since Denver sent Noah Fant to the Seahawks as part of the Wilson deal, it needs a reliable tight end.
Coming out of UCLA, Dulcich is not the measurable athlete that Fant was coming out of Iowa in the 2019 draft. To expect Dulcich to replace the former 20th overall selection’s skillset, impact, and offensive contributions is likely setting the bar too high for players whose draft slots were 60 picks apart.
Via testing measurements, Fant was nearly the same size as Dulcich (6-foot-4-1/8 and 249 pounds to 6-foot-4 and 243 pounds, but in athletic testing, Fant ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash to Dulcich’s 4.7s.
Fant jumped higher and farther with a 39-½-inch vertical and a 127-inch broad to Dulcich recording a 34-inch vertical and a 122-inch broad. Fant had better agilities logging a 6.81-second 3-cone drill and 4.22s 20-yard shuttle to Dulcich recording a 7.05s 3-cone and a 4.37s 20.
Fant also had a far more productive collegiate career at Iowa (even on a team rostering another round-one tight end in the ground-centric Big Ten West). None of this should be surprising, though, because, again, Fant was a top-20 pick compared to Dulcich as a middle-of-Round 3 selection.
While Dulcich did not test like a phenomenal athletic prospect for the tight end position, his tape at UCLA suggests otherwise. On tape, he is a long-strider who presses safeties up the seam quickly and looks plenty athletic enough not only down the field but also after the catch, making defenders miss, which is something Fant struggled with mightily this past season for the Broncos.
Given the capital expenditure on Fant compared to Dulcich, expecting the rookie to come into Denver and put up 170 receptions, 1,905 yards, and 10 touchdowns his first three seasons in the league like Fant did is not a very fair ask. Given that Dulcich was a walk-on who had to work extremely hard to get where he is today, and the exponentially improved passing game in Denver thanks to the upgrade to Wilson compared to the quarterback play Fant dealt with in Denver, one should never say never on Dulcich matching Fant’s statistical output.
With how little Wilson has utilized the tight end position after the Seahawks let Jimmy Graham walk a few seasons ago, Dulcich does not need to replace Noah Fant to be a wildly successful draft selection for the Broncos. There are a lot of mouths to feed on that Broncos offense and Dulcich will need to prove he is ready and worthy of a featured role given where he was drafted.
However, with Wilson’s propensity to be “greedy” and search for kill-shot pass plays down the field, don’t be surprised if Dulcich makes a few big-time highlights early in his career. Dulcich doesn’t have to be the new Fant in Denver, he just needs to be the best version of himself in this exciting, ascending Broncos’ offense
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