Broncos Player Profile: Andrew Beck #83 | Tight End/Fullback
While the Denver Broncos made some moves to help the tight end room, it could spell bad news for one veteran. Andrew Beck has been with the team for a few years, but his roster spot may be in jeopardy now.
The question is, can Beck do enough to keep his hybrid position under a new coaching staff? Maybe diving back into his career could provide an answer.
Biography
Beck was born in Tampa, Florida, and attended Henry B. Plant high school. While there, the school won the state championship when Beck was a freshman and sophomore. Beck, who just turned 26 years old in May, went to the Lonestar state for college to become a member of the Texas Longhorns.
College Career
As a freshman, Beck only saw 15 snaps total, all on offense, and was targeted only once. That jumped to 351 snaps on offense for his sophomore season, where he caught eight of 16 targets for 77 yards. He saw another jump his junior year to 385 snaps on offense and his first action on special teams with 163 snaps there.
Beck caught all four targets in 2016 for 82 yards and two touchdowns. While he showed he could contribute as a receiver, blocking is what he was there to do. According to Pro Football Focus, Beck graded over 60 each year as a run blocker. His range was 61.2 in 2016 to 78.7 in 2015.
A a senior, Beck broke his foot during practice and medically redshirted his 2017 season. Instead of jumping to the NFL with the injury, Beck returned to college and had his best year as a receiver, although it was his second-worst season as a run blocker.
Beck was targeted 42 times, catching 28 for 281 yards and two touchdowns. While they weren't huge numbers, it showed he could be a solid part of a passing attack. Blocking was still where he specialized in college and did quite well overall. However, his special teams play left much to be desired.
During his time in college, Beck also showed the ability to move around on the offense. He played 1,746 snaps on offense but saw more than 400 snaps as a fullback, in-line tight end, and in the slot.
After the 2018 season, Beck made the jump to the NFL.
Draft
Beck had a chance with an invitation to the 2019 East-West Shrine game. That got him a week of practice with NFL coaches in front of scouts. Alas, with 41 snaps played, Beck didn't stand out as a blocker and struggled in the game. He was targeted on three passes, catching two of them for 11 yards. It was a great opportunity, but it availed him not.
Beck didn't get an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine and had only his pro day as the last chance to show teams what he could do. It was a great showing from Beck for his pro day, and he tested exceptionally well in almost every test they do.
Unfortunately, the 3-cone drill was the only drill where Beck didn't test well enough. There was enough shown to get an 8.86 relative athletic score, but none of it was enough to hear his name called during the draft.
Professional Career
In 2019, Beck was initially signed as a college free agent by the New England Patriots, who decided to move him to fullback full-time. However, there wasn't enough shown from Beck to make the roster, and he ended up as part of the final roster cuts.
Denver claimed him, and he landed on its roster the following day. Beck played 231 snaps for the Broncos as a rookie in an offense that heavily utilized a fullback.
Beck saw 127 snaps that season, and he played relatively well. There was enough to give him a look into the next season, but a significant issue emerged.
The Broncos changed the offensive coordinator from Rich Scanagrello, who used a fullback, to Pat Shurmur, who rarely did. Beck saw 67 snaps in 2020 and 55 in 2021. He graded below 60 from PFF in his first two years with his run blocking grade. He barely cracked 60 with a 62.1 run-blocking grade in 2021.
Blocking was supposed to be Beck's strong suit, but he faltered there. He could make up for it with special teams, but he struggled.
There were multiple significant returns by opponents where he was complicit in it happening, though that could have been due to the design of the coverage by a special teams coordinator Tom McMahon, who was eventually fired after Vic Fangio was shown the door.
Now, the Broncos have undergone a complete change with their coaching staff and offensive scheme.
2022 Outlook
Head coach and offensive play-caller Nathaniel Hackett is bringing a system that will use a fullback, but it may not happen often. It'll likely be using a tight end or running back there to create some mismatches when he does. Beck has done that for the last two years, so it should have been good news.
Hackett must like Beck to some degree as the Broncos re-signed him this past spring to a one-year deal, however, the team also signed free-agent Eric Tomlinson, who does precisely what Beck does on offense. Tomlinson is also that tight end/fullback who blocks and plays special teams. What adds to it being bad news for Beck is that Tomlinson does it much better.
While Tomlinson wouldn't be overly expensive to cut, the Broncos would only save about $400K to move on from him with $1 million in dead money. On the flip side, cutting Beck would free up a little over $1M while costing $200K in dead money.
Not only is Tomlinson a pretty significant upgrade over what Beck does, but he also makes more sense to keep from a financial standpoint. There is a chance for Beck to make the roster this year, but he has to dramatically improve his game to a point where Tomlinson's dead money is worth eating.
Unfortunately, Beck's odds of pulling all this off are extremely low.
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