ENGLEWOOD, Colo — What the Broncos could use is a healthy Greg Dulcich — a big-play tight end capable of stretching a defense deep down the seams.
They have Dulcich. Just not a healthy Dulcich. A third-round draft pick in 2022, Dulcich has been hindered by hamstring problems that has caused him to miss 22 full games and parts of two others in his two seasons with the Broncos.
And so with it being difficult to count on Dulcich for a third season, the Broncos will be looking for a tight end with his type of skill set this offseason. They brought in Colorado State tight end Dallin Holker for a formal "local" visit this week at Broncos' headquarters.
"We need to solidify the tight end position,'' Broncos general manager George Paton told 9NEWS during the NFL Combine in late-February. "Obviously, Dulcich has been hurt. But we need a weapon in the middle of field. Felt like we missed that."
Holker can fill that need. After transferring from BYU, where he spent three years not including a two-year Mormon mission, Holker for the CSU Rams had 64 catches for 767 yards and six touchdowns last season. The NFL tight end he tries to emulate?
"When I was younger, I would say Rob Gronkowski,'' Holker said during the NFL Combine. "But now I watch Travis Kelce as much as I can. Every year that I have been in college, I have gotten tape of every play that he has ran. I watch it multiple times in the year. So I have probably watched every single one of his plays over the last four or five years.''
It was a big week for local standout players at Dove Valley. The Broncos also hosted formal visits with Valor Christian High School's Luke McCaffrey and Roger Rosengarten this week.
McCaffrey, a former quarterback turned receiver, combined for 129 catches, 1,715 yards and 19 touchdowns during his last two college seasons at Rice, was in Thursday for his local visit. He is the youngest son of former Broncos receiver standout Ed McCaffrey and younger brother of NFL running back star Christian McCaffrey.
Which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how one handles it. Luke hardly seems bothered by the prowess of his family members -- which also includes mom Lisa (Stanford soccer) and brothers Max and Dylan.
“It’s shaped me in every possible way,'' Luke McCaffrey said at the Combine of his family's influence. "They’re the biggest blessing I ever had that I never had the right to because I didn’t do anything to earn having those role models in my life.
“There’s such a level of respect you have to have just to play the game of football. There’s such amazing history, such greatness that has come through. The level of respect is automatically going to have -- not pressure but the intensity and seriousness you have to have inside of you to approach this game and play it at a high level.
“I think I have that, I have the love for the game, the passion that comes from playing the game, that comes from the history of the game but when it comes to added pressure -- I have so much fun doing this that I don’t know if pressure will ever be the right word.”
Rosengarten also hailed from Valor before becoming a starting right tackle for the University of Washington. He measured at 6-foot-5 3/8 inches and weighed 308 pounds at the Combine. He is most commonly projected to go in the second or third round, although some mocks have started to slip him into the first round.
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