Last season, the Denver Broncos’ offense made it very difficult to get excited about any player heading into 2023.
But with the arrival of new head coach Sean Payton, could Greg Dulcich be the next TE to come out of nowhere to produce a top-five fantasy football season? Let’s take a closer look.
Did you get a trade offer in your dynasty or redraft league? Not sure who to start or sit this week? Make championship-winning decisions with PFN’s FREE fantasy tools — the Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer and Calculator and Start/Sit Optimizer!
What Went Right for Greg Dulcich in 2022?
Not much went favorably in the Mile High City last year, but if you really grabbed your shovel and kept digging until you hit the earth’s core, you may have found one potential breakout candidate not named Jerry Jeudy, and that would be TE Greg Dulcich.
Despite battling a hamstring injury for the majority of his rookie season, he still managed to finish as a top-12 tight end in five of 10 games played (PPR formats).
Sure, the overall stat line of 33-411-2 with a TE29 finish doesn’t exactly have everyone projecting Dulcich for a breakout season in 2023, but his five targets and over 40 yards receiving on a per-game basis, which ranked 10th among all TEs, as a rookie is a very encouraging sign the Broncos see him as a viable threat in the passing game.
What Kind of Fantasy Impact Can We Expect Sean Payton To Have on Greg Dulcich?
Another member of the Broncos organization sees Dulcich as a viable weapon in the passing game, and his name is Sean Payton.
In an interview earlier this year, Payton alluded to Dulcich having “traits that are exciting” while mentioning some of the previous tight ends he’s worked with, such as Jeremy Shockey, Jason Witten, and Jimmy Graham.
The aforementioned TEs above all spent time in the “joker” role within Payton’s offense.
For those of you who don’t speak Payton-ese, the joker role is a TE or RB with exceptional ball skills that allows a coach to create mismatches against opposing defenses.
This dialogue alone, coming from the mouth of a gifted offensive strategist who has pumped out six top-10 finishes at the TE position (more if you include Taysom Hill), should get you excited about Dulcich’s potential role in 2023.
Predict Greg Dulcich’s stats for the 2023 season ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/TPxHBIU0vc
— Michael 🇲🇽 (@RespectMyCos) August 7, 2023
Dulcich has the versatility to be a move TE and is fully capable of playing the big-slot role in the NFL, which could equal fantasy gold.
Will Greg Dulcich Be a Top-5 Fantasy Football TE in 2023?
The question now becomes, what are the real expectations for Dulcich in 2023?
It will be hard to know the answer to this question until we get a look at this new look Broncos in action.
Sure, the potential for a breakout fantasy star at the TE position in this offense is there.
If you specifically look at Graham’s production, he saw 120+ targets for a four-year stretch from 2011-2014, which produced four straight TE1 or TE2 overall finishes during that span.
However, roadblocks like a potential breakout year from Jeudy and some of the concerns about QB Russell Wilson operating effectively within the confines of a passing system based on precise timing for one of the best off-script QBs of the past decade are valid potential pitfalls for projecting a breakout year for Dulcich.
While Dulcich is one of my favorite candidates to sneak into the top 10 at the TE position this year, there are still too many question marks surrounding Wilson to project Dulich for a top-five fantasy finish at the TE position.