Brown was an undrafted free agent from Oregon that the Oakland Raiders signed in 2017. The 6-6, 258-pound tight end started in one of his two games of activation at the end of the season.
From 2018-19, Brown spent time with the Cleveland Browns, where he caught two passes for 27 yards in nine games with the AFC North club.
Fumagalli is a former Wisconsin Badger the Denver Broncos selected in Round 5 of the 2018 NFL Draft. The 6-6, 248-pound tight end caught six passes for 38 yards and a touchdown in 11 games with the AFC West team.
At the end of training camp, the Texans released Jordan Thomas, who was then signed by the Arizona Cardinals to their practice squad. Houston carried tight end Dylan Stapleton from James Madison on their roster, but the undrafted rookie was placed on injured reserve at the end of camp.
Broncos tight end Troy Fumagalli will need a week or so to recover from a procedure.
Nine injured Broncos players were held out of practice Tuesday, including tight end Troy Fumagalli (abdomen). After practice, coach Vic Fangio provided a status update for the third-year tight end.
“He underwent a procedure yesterday,” Fangio said. “He’s going to be fine. It’ll probably be a week or so before he’s back, but when he’s back he’s 100 percent. There’s not lingering effects.”
Fangio had a procedure to clean out a “bacterial infection,” according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis. He has already been cleared to run and workout, which is a good sign.
Fumagalli has battled several injuries in his career. Last season, he dressed for 11 games and caught six passes for 38 yards and a touchdown. Fumagalli has had a good training camp and he might be a candidate to land a spot on the expanded practice squad.
In addition to Fumagalli, Denver also has Noah Fant, Nick Vannett, Jake Butt, Albert Okwuegbunam, Andrew Beck and Austin Fort at tight end.
Much has been written about the five former Badgers that made it to the NFL last week–Jonathan Taylor, Zack Baun, Tyler Biadasz…
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Much has been written about the five former Badgers that made it to the NFL last week–Jonathan Taylor, Zack Baun, Tyler Biadasz, Quintez Cephus and Chris Orr–and how their draft slot and landing spot affects their NFL future.
What hasn’t been nearly as documented is what effect the draft had on former Badgers already in the NFL, especially the ones who may have already been in a position where they needed to battle for a role on the team.
Now, a team using its 5th and 6th round picks on a player at the same position of a Wisconsin product doesn’t necessarily mean that player will soon be out of the door.
Once it becomes a high selection, though, is when the veterans in the league are sometimes cast aside in favor of the younger, cheaper option at the position.
Here’s how the 2020 NFL Draft affects the jobs and playing time of former Badgers already in the NFL.
T.J. Edwards (Philadelphia Eagles)
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards (57) warms up prior to a game against the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field. Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Edwards surprised many in Philadelphia as he finished the 2019 season as a starter at middle linebacker after making the team as an undrafted free agent.
Joining the starting rotation with low expectations after injuries to Kamu Grugier-Hill and Nigel Bradham, Edwards actually became the team’s best at the position and finished the season with a ProFootballFocus grade of 86.6.
During the NFL Draft, though, the Eagles used their third round pick on Colorado linebacker Davion Taylor, the highest the team has drafted a linebacker since 2015.
While it will take a year or two for Taylor to gain experience and learn the position–as he didn’t play in games until he reached college–and it may still be him and Edwards as the two starters, the Eagles brought in competition at the position and clearly view it as a need for the team going forward.
Edwards’ job isn’t in jeopardy with this move, but it adds competition to the room as Edwards tries to continue to prove wrong the teams that didn’t take a chance on him during the draft.
Troy Fumagalli came to Wisconsin as a three-star tight end out of Aurora, Illinois and redshirted his first year in 2013. The Waubonsie…
Troy Fumagalli came to Wisconsin as a three-star tight end out of Aurora, Illinois and redshirted his first year in 2013.
The Waubonsie Valley High School product saw the field right away as a redshirt freshman, though started in only two games at tight end and caught just 14 passes for 187 yards.
He then saw an uptick in usage during his sophomore season as he finished the year with 28 catches, 313 yards and a touchdown.
After his freshman-to-sophomore year jump, Fumagalli exploded onto the scene during his upperclassman years and started to get noticed by teams at the next level.
This explosion saw the tight end catch 93 balls for 1127 yards and six touchdowns combined during his final two years.
Fumagalli finished his college career with a 45-10 overall record, the best for any senior class in school history, and the seventh-most receptions and 13th-most receiving yards in the history of the program.
His efforts were enough to get him drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Unfortunately, his rookie season ended before it was able to begin as he was placed on injured reserve one week before the season kicked off.
He then saw the field during his second year in the pros and was on the field during 15 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, recording six catches for 38 yards and a touchdown.
Going forward the former Badger may be given his best shot to stick on the roster through special teams, situations which saw him on the field 23 percent of the time in 2019, as the Broncos are stacked at tight end with guys including former-first round pick Noah Fant and veterans Jeff Heuerman and Nick Vannett.
The Broncos had 69 receptions from tight ends in 2019 and 40 of them came from rookie Noah Fant. Denver needs another TE to step up.
Getting back to our positional grades series, it’s now time to look back at the tight ends for the Denver Broncos for 2019.
Tight end, at least in terms of having one that can stretch the field and be an offensive threat, is something the Broncos had lacked for quite some time. That is largely why the team used its first-round pick on a tight end in 2019.
Let’s take a look at how each of the team’s tight ends graded out this past season.
Noah Fant
(Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports)
Stats
Receptions: 40
Receiving yards: 562
Touchdowns: 3
Fant got off to a slow start for the team and there were some fans already frustrated over the fact that the team traded out of the No. 10 spot where it could have drafted Devin Bush and into the No. 20 slot where Fant was selected.
Perhaps some still are.
But Fant turned it on toward the end of the season and ended up being second on the team in receptions and receiving yards. With the ball in his hands, he becomes a serious threat, quick and agile for a tight end. That is what the Broncos drafted him for.
Fant played in all 16 games and earned some great experience. The ceiling is high for him and he should be expected to be one of the team’s best offensive weapons for many years to come.
