Broncos TE Nate Adkins' Brother Dreamed his First NFL TD into Existence

There were many forces afoot in Nate Adkins' first career touchdown catch.

Oct 27, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos tight end Nate Adkins (45) celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey (84) in the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Empower Field at Mile High. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Sunday was National Tight End Day, and the Denver Broncos did their best to honor it. In the team's 28-14 win over the Carolina Panthers, tight ends accounted for 106 of Bo Nix's 284 passing yards.

Two of Nix's three touchdown passes were to tight ends, as well — one to Nate Adkins and another to Adam Trautman. It was the first NFL touchdown of Adkins' career.

We learned after the game that there may have been more to Adkins' first pro score than it simply being National Tight End Day — something — dare I say — mystical was afoot.

"It’s actually a funny story," Adkins said post-game. "I was talking to my brother last night, and he said he had a dream that I was going to catch a touchdown today. So it’s pretty cool.”

First career TD for @NateTKins!

📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/QTRnprugnK

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) October 27, 2024

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As you can see from the replay above, it was no easy catch for Adkins. His body angle relative to Nix's throw and the amount of end-zone real estate available to him made it a very sketchy three-yard pitch and catch. But Adkins hauled it in.

“I think we all had a pretty good day today," Adkins said. "I think whenever the ball was in the air, everybody was just trying to go out there and make a play and it ended up being a good day for us.”

It was definitely cool to see Denver's tight ends make a sizable impact in the passing game. The Broncos' offense clicked in the first half, despite an early lost fumble by wide receiver Lil'Jodan Humphrey.

The second half wasn't quite as prolific, but the Broncos still put an additional touchdown on the board and finished the day with 400 net yards. The Broncos improved dramatically on third down and in the red zone, going 11-of-17 (65%) and 4-of-5 (80%), respectively.

It was a lowly, reeling Panthers squad, yes. But a good team is supposed to dominate such an opponent.

Looking ahead to the next three games, perhaps Adkins' can importune his brother to dream up even more tight end production.

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