In the NFL and in life, there is fantasy, and then there’s reality.

This offseason has reaffirmed to Adam Trautman that it’s more important to be concerned with the latter.

He’s a pragmatist’s tight end, a 27-year-old who finds fulfillment in leadership despite his age, a recent free agent who learned he can be aspirational by being rational. He sees the value in the nuances andintangibles of his position as much as the showy stats.

“That’s the nice thing about tight end,” he told The Denver Post. “It’s multifaceted, and you can do so many different things. At some point, you embrace who you are. You figure out the type of player (you are). You be realistic with yourself of what you’re gonna do and what things you do well. … Obviously it’s less flashy, but being a blocker is how you last 10, 12 years.”

If the nooks and crannies of tight end-ing can buoy a career, sign Trautman up. The Broncos did. He is back in 2024 as the presumptive leader — in principle and in snap count — of a mostly unchanged position group, after re-signed on a two-year deal in March. So continues the working relationship between Trautman, Sean Payton and tight ends coach Declan Doyle, all of whom collaborated in New Orleans and liked one another enough to reunite in Denver.

That means everyone has a mutual understanding of the expectation. Trautman is on the roster for durability and dependability first, downfield route-running second.

There is no fantasy in Trautman’s mind. And he doesn’t care about yours, either.

“I’ll double down on it. I couldn’t give a (crap) less, couldn’t care less about fantasy football,” he said cheerfully, referring to his recent comments about not being an ideal fantasy football player. “I mean, tight ends, people don’t necessarily understand the position as well as they should. Certain guys have certain roles and stuff. But I’d much rather be a leader in the room, looked up to than be like, ‘I’d rather be a fantasy football god.’”

Indeed, Trautman ranked 15th among all NFL tight ends last year with 755 snaps played, but he was targeted as a receiver only 35 times for 22 catches and 204 yards. So he’s not exactly the prototype for fantasy football, where receiving yards and touchdowns are all that matter.

In reality, that’s not how it works.

But when exactly did Trautman realize it’s most prudent to embrace the less flashy side of his job?

“I think I found out early on that it could definitely be something I could evolve into, and like, if this stuff doesn’t work, I know I can do this stuff,” he said. “It’s not really a backup plan, but it kind of is, in a way where you know, ‘Hey man, I’m always going to be able to fall back on these (skills). And this is always valued by every single team in the league.’ But kind of going through free agency and this past year and stuff, you kind of realize, ‘Alright, this is what these people think. This is what this team thinks, this team thinks.’ So, yeah, I’d say around probably this past offseason.”

Trautman was on his annual trip to Newport Beach, Calif., during free agency — the weeks when he reached that epiphany. Ultimately, his return to the Broncos was a testament to the relationships he has built and the niche he carved out for himself last year.

He’s now the familiar voice of wisdom and experience to Denver’s other tight ends, a group that includes Greg Dulcich (24 years old), Nate Adkins (25) and Lucas Krull (26).

“One of the reasons I came back and re-signed was because of that,” Trautman said. “… I came from that system and I played for Sean. So guys naturally listened when I gave them pointers on things because I know the scheme. And that naturally kind of evolved into, ‘Oh yeah, this is the guy we go to for certain schematic questions or whatever the case is.’ I think it was natural with me getting traded here under Sean.”

Then there was the established familiarity with Doyle, a position coach also in his 20s who adds to the distinctly young dynamic within the tight end room. Trautman credits Doyle for teaching him how to play pro football and says, “We’ve pretty much grown up together in the NFL.” It’s a work friendship that’s no stranger to regular phone calls.

“The best thing he does in our room is, the communication is elite,” Trautman said. “There’s no gray area of like, ‘Hey well maybe I shouldn’t say this.’ No, we’re gonna say things to each other. He makes you feel comfortable.”

It’s the type of mindset that reflects everything Trautman has learned to value. It’s not that he’s substance-over-style at all costs, so much as substance-with-or-without-style. If he’s needed to run a route and reel in a catch, fabulous. If he’s not, he feels gratification in the dirty work of blocking, in his leadership responsibilities behind the scenes — even if those elements aren’t recognizable where the TV camera is trained, or if they don’t earn him fantasy points.

And at least he gets some extra validation from a handful of friends, who draft him out of sympathy.

“I just got you to have you on the team,” they’ll tell him, smirking. “On the bench.”

Fantasy Island

Among the 20 tight ends who played the most offensive snaps in the NFL last season, Denver’s Adam Trautman amassed the fewest fantasy football points. He’s one of only two TEs who ranked in the top 20 in snaps played at his position but outside the top 25 in fantasy points. (Fantasy points according to ESPN. Snap count rankings according to fantasypros.)

Mobile users, tap here to see the chart.

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Originally Published: August 26, 2024 at 5:45 a.m.