Did the Denver Broncos tight ends in 2024 help or hurt the run game? In order to answer this question we need to see how tight ends did in run blocking across the league in 2024. SISdatahub.com has this data and I have scrubbed it for analysis so we can answer the question.
SIS assigns points for blocking. The best run blocking tight ends in the NFL get 12 run blocking points for the season. Seven tight ends got ten or more points last season for their run blocking.
| Player | Team | RB Snaps | BRB | PCT | Holding | RB Stuffs | STFPCT | RB PTs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tucker Kraft | Packers | 375 | 8 | 2.1% | 2 | 5 | 1.3% | 12 |
| George Kittle | 49ers | 272 | 2 | 0.7% | 1 | 0 | 0.0% | 12 |
| Sam LaPorta | Lions | 316 | 8 | 2.5% | 0 | 3 | 0.9% | 10 |
| Foster Moreau | Saints | 309 | 5 | 1.6% | 2 | 1 | 0.3% | 10 |
| Adam Trautman | Broncos | 260 | 2 | 0.8% | 0 | 2 | 0.8% | 10 |
| Trey McBride | Cardinals | 256 | 6 | 2.3% | 2 | 2 | 0.8% | 10 |
| Tip Reiman | Cardinals | 238 | 7 | 2.9% | 1 | 3 | 1.3% | 10 |
| Grant Calcaterra | Eagles | 338 | 9 | 2.7% | 1 | 5 | 1.5% | 9 |
| Cole Kmet | Bears | 302 | 6 | 2.0% | 0 | 1 | 0.3% | 9 |
| Charlie Woerner | Falcons | 277 | 5 | 1.8% | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 9 |
| Cade Otton | Buccaneers | 274 | 5 | 1.8% | 0 | 1 | 0.4% | 9 |
| Josh Oliver | Vikings | 271 | 2 | 0.7% | 2 | 0 | 0.0% | 9 |
As you can see, Adam Trautman was
one of the best run blocking TEs in the NFL last season. The other two Bronco tight ends who had run blocking snaps last season only managed two points between them
As a team the Cardinals had the best group of RB TEs with 26 total points from the TEs for run blocking. The Seahawks were the worst (the curse of Noah Fant) with only eight points, but the Jets and Browns were close with nine total points. The Browns had the fewest TE run blocking snaps with 353 while the Steelers had double that with 717 TE run blocking snaps.
| Team | Count of TEs who had RnB snaps | Sum of Run Block Snaps | Sum of Blown RnBs | BRB % | Sum of Holding | Sum of Run Block Stuffs | Stuff % | Sum of RnB PTs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinals | 4 | 678 | 16 | 2.36% | 5 | 5 | 0.74% | 26 |
| Colts | 4 | 588 | 4 | 0.68% | 0 | 0 | 0.00% | 22 |
| Eagles | 5 | 681 | 13 | 1.91% | 1 | 8 | 1.17% | 20 |
| Lions | 5 | 660 | 16 | 2.42% | 0 | 7 | 1.06% | 19 |
| 49ers | 4 | 453 | 7 | 1.55% | 1 | 1 | 0.22% | 18 |
| Buccaneers | 4 | 572 | 12 | 2.10% | 1 | 4 | 0.70% | 18 |
| Packers | 4 | 615 | 15 | 2.44% | 2 | 8 | 1.30% | 18 |
| Saints | 4 | 560 | 9 | 1.61% | 3 | 3 | 0.54% | 18 |
| Chiefs | 5 | 510 | 3 | 0.59% | 1 | 2 | 0.39% | 17 |
| Vikings | 5 | 553 | 7 | 1.27% | 3 | 2 | 0.36% | 17 |
| Falcons | 3 | 508 | 10 | 1.97% | 0 | 3 | 0.59% | 16 |
| Ravens | 3 | 478 | 7 | 1.46% | 0 | 3 | 0.63% | 16 |
| Texans | 5 | 538 | 6 | 1.12% | 1 | 3 | 0.56% | 16 |
| Titans | 5 | 500 | 6 | 1.20% | 3 | 2 | 0.40% | 16 |
| Bears | 3 | 511 | 9 | 1.76% | 2 | 2 | 0.39% | 15 |
| Bills | 4 | 476 | 6 | 1.26% | 1 | 2 | 0.42% | 14 |
| Giants | 3 | 491 | 6 | 1.22% | 4 | 2 | 0.41% | 14 |
| Jaguars | 4 | 540 | 8 | 1.48% | 2 | 3 | 0.56% | 14 |
| Rams | 4 | 487 | 8 | 1.64% | 2 | 5 | 1.03% | 14 |
| Chargers | 4 | 390 | 6 | 1.54% | 2 | 1 | 0.26% | 13 |
| Commanders | 3 | 506 | 9 | 1.78% | 4 | 2 | 0.40% | 13 |
| Dolphins | 4 | 464 | 9 | 1.94% | 3 | 8 | 1.72% | 13 |
| Patriots | 4 | 508 | 8 | 1.57% | 1 | 1 | 0.20% | 13 |
| Steelers | 4 | 717 | 13 | 1.81% | 4 | 4 | 0.56% | 13 |
| Broncos | 3 | 491 | 6 | 1.22% | 1 | 4 | 0.81% | 12 |
| Cowboys | 4 | 450 | 6 | 1.33% | 4 | 0 | 0.00% | 12 |
| Panthers | 6 | 437 | 14 | 3.20% | 1 | 2 | 0.46% | 12 |
| Raiders | 5 | 495 | 8 | 1.62% | 2 | 2 | 0.40% | 12 |
| Bengals | 6 | 421 | 6 | 1.43% | 0 | 1 | 0.24% | 10 |
| Browns | 4 | 353 | 9 | 2.55% | 2 | 1 | 0.28% | 9 |
| Jets | 3 | 411 | 14 | 3.41% | 0 | 4 | 0.97% | 9 |
| Seahawks | 4 | 434 | 11 | 2.53% | 3 | 2 | 0.46% | 8 |
| Grand Total | 132 | 16476 | 287 | 1.74% | 59 | 97 | 0.6% | 477 |
Two teams, the Colts and the Cowboys did not have their tight ends get stuffed in the run game. Bronc0 TEs were blamed for four stuffs in 2024, but they only committed one holding penalty in the run game. The Broncos were called for 22 holding penalties last season; two were on TEs (Trautman and Nate Adkins), but the one of Adkins was declined.
Bronco TEs were good at not having blown blocks with only six on 491 run blocking snaps, 1.22%. The only two teams below 1% in blown run blocks were the Colts and the Chiefs, while the Panthers and the Jets were over 3%.
Evan Engram is not a blocking TE. He is a move TE. He ran a 4.42s 40 at the combine and he still has speed which he showed off in the first preseason game. Engram had 81 run blocking snaps last season with one blown block and no stuffs or holding penalties. He earned two points last season for his run blocking.
That being said, he was brought in because the Bronco tight ends were not productive at all last season as receivers. They were either the worst or near the worst group in the league in terms of receiving stats. They were only responsible for 21 first downs (worst) and 51 catches (tied for 30th) for 483 yards (30th) and five TDs.
Obviously Engram was brought in to improve those numbers. Engram only played 363 snaps last season, but he played 917 the season before when he had 144 catches for 973 yards, 47 first downs and four TDs. Even last season Engram had 47 catches for 365 yards and one touchdown despite missing about half of the season. That was not too far off of how many catches and yards all of the Bronco TEs had last season.
