The preseason hero’s stall in the Denver locker room was vacant as a small convoy of reporters approached, so the Broncos began a chorus summoning him to enjoy his moment with the cameras.
“Albert! Albert!” they called out toward the showers in mocking desperation. Eventually, a beaming Albert Okwuegbunam emerged.
Were those his last moments to savor as a Denver Bronco?
The fourth-year tight end, whose entire career has been spent in Denver, is one of the team’s most ambiguous and intriguing decisions in the final days before the Tuesday deadline for NFL roster cuts. The plot thickened in a stirring preseason finale: He was buzzing in a 41-0 win over the Rams on Saturday night.
“O went crazy,” receiver Brandon Johnson said. “He went crazy.”
Targeted eight times by backup quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci, Okwuegbunam amassed a team-leading seven receptions and 109 yards, including a first-half touchdown. When Denver devised a screen for him on the opening series, he hurdled a defender. He exposed a hole in coverage and converted a third-and-21 in the second half. He crossed the century mark in garbage time by diving for a one-handed snag worth 20 yards on fourth-and-4.
“Awesome,” Stidham marveled. “He’s big, strong, fast. He was able to display his talent. He made a lot of plays tonight.”
Okwuegbunam conceded he was a “a little bit” surprised at himself for making the highlight play. As for the rest of his night: “I’m not really surprised by it,” he said. “I’ve always been capable of it, and I knew that in my heart. It’s just tonight I had some opportunities, and that’s what you guys saw.”
The last preseason game is fortuitous timing for anyone on the roster bubble to deliver a standout performance. Yet there’s a chance Okwuegbunam is one of the Broncos for whom this mattered the least. As the 11th hour arrives for cuts, his predicament is redundancy. Okwuegbunam is a more than serviceable pass-catching tight end but a subpar blocker. The latter is important, if new coach Sean Payton’s insistence on a run-dependent offense is to be believed.
The Broncos already have a tight end who fits Okwuegbunam’s general profile, but Greg Dulcich is understood as simply a better route-runner and pass catcher. So unless Payton decides there’s room for a fourth tight end on the final 53-man product, it stands to reason Denver would lean toward employing reliable run-blockers in two out of three spots. That’s where Chris Manhertz and Adam Trautman fit in behind Dulcich. It’s where Okwuegbunam doesn’t.
“Had a good game tonight. Been stringing some good practices together, and some good weeks,” Okwuegbunam said. “So really, I’ve pretty much done everything I can do. So just going into these next couple of days, going to see what happens.”
Even if Payton does opt for a fourth tight end in his eagerness to use two-tight end sets, undrafted free agent rookie Nate Adkins has the special teams profile to potentially earn the spot over Okwuegbunam. Someone that far down the depth chart might as well be useful in other phases aside from offense.
Still, Okwuegbunam’s productive receiving output Saturday was evidence he still has a place on an NFL roster, even if he ultimately doesn’t make sense on Denver’s. Perhaps the the Broncos could dangle him in trade talks in the coming days, the goal being to flip his talents for a different asset.
As Payton has preached throughout training camp, preseason film is as much for other teams’ eyes as your own. Okwuegbunam understands that premise, but he’s trying not to focus on his own tryout status that way.
“I don’t think about (other teams), because it’s out of my control, you know what I mean?” he said. “I’m just really present in the moment, and that’s just taking advantage of opportunities and playing at the highest level I can.”
The 25-year-old is two years removed from his best professional season to date. He made 33 catches for 330 yards across 14 games in 2021, but last fall he only appeared in eight games, relegated to the inactive list when the rest of Denver’s tight end room was healthy. The former Missouri star finished 2022 with 95 yards and a touchdown on 10 receptions, half of which came in the season-opener.
“I’m so happy for Albert,” Jaleel McLaughlin said. “That was great because there’s times at practice, there’s times in the game, when he don’t touch the ball. But he’s going his hardest.”
Okwuegbunam looks the part of a tight end ready to relish any chances he gets. It might not be the Broncos providing those chances anymore — unless the preseason finale was a last-second harbinger.
“I just got opportunities tonight,” he said.
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