The Nuggets will be led by a player nicknamed Joker when they take the court in Game One of the NBA Finals on Thursday night and the Broncos are planning to employ a Joker of their own this season as well.
Tight end Greg Dulcich may not have a Nikola Jokic-type impact on games, but head coach Sean Payton indicated that the team thinks he can be a boost to their offense during his Thursday press conference. Payton said the Broncos use the “Joker” term for a non-wide receiver with “exceptional ball skills” and the ability to exploit certain matchups over the course of a game.
According to Payton, Dulcich is suited to that role because “he’s got traits that are exciting” and that the team is starting to develop “a vision” about how to make the most of them.
“The trick sometimes is trying to predict what you’re going to get defensively — if you’re going to get a nickel package or a base package,’’ Payton said, via Mike Klis of KUSA. “But man he can run. He’s got good ball skills. And he had one of his better practices today. So you begin to build on that. . . . I think his menu is going to be lengthy in the passing game and there’s enough stuff we can do in the run game.”
Dulcich had 33 catches for 411 yards and two touchdowns during his rookie season. With Payton talking about a long list of plays in the passing game for the tight end, those numbers will be going up if all goes as hoped in Denver.