The Denver Broncos tight end room has been the one position group that nobody has been able to defend with a straight face. Sean Payton has danced around it. The national graders have dinged the roster for it. It’s the one weak link on a team that otherwise looks built to compete for a Super Bowl.
So when Brandon Stokley showed up to training camp on Saturday and left talking about a tight end, it was worth paying attention to.
On a recent edition of “Stokley and Evans, with Mark Schlereth” on 104.3 The Fan, the co-host shared his first impressions from camp, and one name stood out above the rest.
“There’s another guy that I laid eyes on for the first time. Just like the first glimpse, the first look at on Saturday, that I was kind of excited. (Justin) Joly,” Stokley said.
Joly. A fifth-round pick in this year’s draft. Not the kind of selection that generates headlines or lands on the back page of the sports section. But the kind of pick that quietly solves a problem if the player develops the way the tape suggests he can.
Joly spent his college career split between two years at UConn and two years at NC State, compiling 1,978 yards and 15 touchdowns on 166 receptions across four seasons. The production is there. The question, as it always is with mid-round tight ends, is whether the physical tools translate to the professional level.
Stokley saw something Saturday that suggests they might.
“You could just tell, like he moves well. He moves really well. Sometimes, you just lay eyes on guys, watch how they get in and out of breaks, watch how they move, very intriguing,” Stokley said.
That’s the kind of observation that carries real weight coming from a former NFL receiver who understands route mechanics at an elite level. Movement quality is one of the hardest things to teach. A player either possesses the fluidity to create separation at the top of his routes or he doesn’t. Stokley is saying Joly has it, and in a tight end room that has been searching for a reliable pass-catching weapon, that trait alone makes him worth monitoring closely throughout the rest of camp.
Stokley tempered the excitement with the appropriate level of patience.
“Yeah, I liked what I saw there. Continue to watch him and his development. But yes, he is a pass-receiving tight end,” Stokley said.
That last distinction matters. The Broncos don’t need another blocking-first tight end who occasionally leaks into the flat for a check-down. They need someone who can threaten the middle of the field, win against linebackers in coverage, and give Bo Nix a reliable option between the numbers on third down. Joly’s college production and his movement skills at camp both suggest he has the foundation to become that player.
It’s still early. Training camp impressions are just that, impressions. But in a tight end room that has been the one glaring weakness on an otherwise stacked roster, a fifth-round pick who moves like Joly does is exactly the kind of development that could quietly change the trajectory of the Broncos’ offense this season. Stokley noticed it on day one.
The rest of Broncos Country should be paying attention too.
