The Denver Broncos are starting 2015 in the hole. The team opted to let Julius Thomas walk away in free agency and sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars. They remained confident in players like Virgil Green and Owen Daniels while planning on drafting a rookie to help with depth. That came in the form of Jeff Heuerman who was expected to make an immediate impact. However, a season-ending injury suffered during rookie mini-camp has Denver scrambling to adjust their plans.
According to Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com, the Broncos have confirmed that Heuerman has suffered a torn ACL while making cuts during drills in rookie mini-camp and will miss the entire season. Head coach Gary Kubiak admitted he was extremely disappointing the injury to the rookie after telling the media they expected Heuerman would be a crucial part to the 2015 offensive plan. Kubiak's offenses are tight end-heavy and now the Broncos must adjust their plans heading into offseason workouts and training camps.
The Broncos re-sign Green in hopes that he would excel with the added responsibility. The team also signed Daniels given his familiarity with Kubiak while the two were in Baltimore together. James Casey was also signed, but is expected to play more fullback that tight end which is why Heuerman was drafted in the third round. Now the team must decide if Green and Daniels are going to be enough in 2015 or if the team should eye other options available.
According to Cecil Lammey of Bleacher Report, the Broncos would wise to look at help on the free agent market. Jermaine Gresham highlights the group of players still available. The issue is how much Denver will spend. The reason Gresham is still available is because he is looking for more money than teams are willing to give and he also wants a big role on the team. Denver might not be looking for that type of player.
Lammey suggests Nick Kasa as an option. He was a 2013 draft pick out of Kansas and players for the Oakland Raiders for a brief period of time. He is a bigger tight end with excellent blocking skills. The Broncos will need to add someone. The goal entering this season was to give Peyton Manning as many weapons to work with as possible. The Broncos did not draft any wide receivers for that effort, instead remaining confident in players like Cody Latimer and the return of Montee Ball and Ronnie Hillman.
