Sean Payton Teases Broncos' Plan for 'Matchup' TE Greg Dulcich

Denver Broncos fans can't wait to see what Sean Payton has in store for Greg Dulcich now that he's finally healthy.

Denver Broncos tight end Greg Dulcich (80) during training camp at Broncos Park Powered by CommonSpirit. / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Soon or later, the Denver Broncos had to remove the bubble wrap around tight end Greg Dulcich. Getting Dulcich back in tight end rotation has provided a boost since training camp started.

The 24-year-old's potential to flesh out a questionable positional group can't be understated. Head coach Sean Payton is in Year 2 of searching for his elusive but critical "joker" player to utilize within the Broncos offense. 

Given the troublesome injury history, Payton could have inadvertently fed anxiety to Dulcich's psyche. Fortunately, Payton understands those dangers and has instead worked to build his tight end's confidence.

“I’m watching him make progress and encouraged with how he’s doing," Payton explained on Wednesday. "When I see him, I’m like, ‘Man, you’re looking good...' I haven’t thought that much about his injury past, and yet, certainly we think about it when we’re scripting and making sure we’re counting his reps. A lot of it is done ahead of time.”

It's funny how the notoriously cutthroat NFL works. Once you leap one hurdle, suddenly another looms into view. Dulcich's next major hurdle to overcome involves improving his blocking.

Rather than overloading Dulcich's plate too much, too early, Payton is taking an approach similar to what he did previously with Jimmy Graham down in New Orleans — playing to his core strengths first and foremost.

“I would say he [Dulcich] is probably a little behind, and yet there are still some things—when [in New Orleans] we drafted [Graham], I remember it very well," Payton said. "[Pro Football Hall of Fame Head Coach Bill] Parcells called me and said, ‘Hey, don’t worry if he can’t block power or certain runs.’ So there are certain things Greg, we’re going to ask him to do in the run game, and then there are certain things we’re not going to ask him to do."

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Broncos Country can rest assured that Payton recognizes the asset that Dulcich can be. That is, creating mismatches in the passing game.

"I see him as a space player and a guy that can maybe give us matchup advantages," Payton said of Dulcich. "Then we’ll be smart relative to what types of run schemes, the easy schemes where he’s up on a safety and back side cutoff. So there are certain run schemes that he’ll be utilized more in than others.”

Dulcich is well aware of what's being asked of him, but making improvements is expected for a player who's missed as much time as he has.

“Everything," Dulcich said of what he's looking to improve. "Trying to improve my game in all facets, especially being out for as long as I was. Lots to clean up for sure.”

After investing so much time and effort in Dulcich already, it seems the Broncos are genuinely happy he's been put back together. He's already proven his resilience and commitment to overcome adversity, by virtue of his injury jacket alone.

That resilience included blocking out frequent criticism that he was a third-round draft bust and accepting that he had to readjust even the way he ran.

“We have great coaches and they’ve made it much easier. I worked with [Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach] Korey Jones a lot this summer and like you said, just changing the gait," Dulcich said of some the changes he's made. "Just working on striking below the hip and kind of cleaning things up a bit.”

Dulcich may look more likely to help you wax down a surfboard or open you a cold beer, but it's clear he's made of tougher stuff than may have first met the eye.

“It’s definitely not fun being over there," Dulcich said. "You definitely don’t want to be over there. You want to be playing football. That’s what we’re here to do, and I’m glad that I’m back doing that.”

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