How Andrew Beck is building off his hot start to the season

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Andrew Beck’s season debut got off to a rough start.

The fullback-tight end hybrid was targeted out of the backfield on the first play of the game. The ball was a little bit high. Beck was able to get his hands on it, but he wasn’t able to corral it.

The pass was the 13th time in his four-year career that he’s been targeted.

“Obviously I wanted to come down with that,” Beck said. “I knew that there were other opportunities coming down the pipe.”

Beck was right about having plenty of opportunities.

On the next play, he caught a ball for 25 yards.

Two plays after that, Beck brought in another pass, this time for 27 yards. It was the first one-handed catch in his career, at any level.

“Just taking advantage of the opportunities I was given, moreso than anything else,” Beck said.

Beck’s big night was easily the best performance of his career. He’d totaled 90 yards in the NFL before Monday night but hadn’t caught a ball since he was a rookie in 2019. His 29 yards against the Texans were previously the most he’d ever posted in a single game.

He also led the way on a pair of 13-yard runs and set the edge on a 9-yard run.

“I know it sounds crazy but I kind of enjoy coming out of the backfield, running around and blocking guys more than I do running downfield and catching balls,” Beck said. “It’s something that I enjoy.”

Sounds like a fullback.

Beck’s contract expired after last season, his third in the NFL, and he re-signed with the team in March. By then, Nathaniel Hackett had taken over as head coach and—despite Hackett’s Packers not using a fullback much last season—there was good reason to believe the Broncos would have more of a role for a player like Beck.

“They told me this is a system that uses that guy,” Beck said. “Whether I’m going to be that guy or not, the system uses it. It was just taking advantage of the opportunity they gave me.”

Despite his success, Beck’s role was limited. He was, obviously, an important part of the first drive but he only played 10 total snaps during the game.

“That’s how game plans go,” Beck said. “Coaches get to make decisions and stuff like that. That was what was best for the team at the time, and I knew that as well.”

The game plan could be different this time around.

While letting Russell Wilson sling the rock around the field will always be part of the game plan, the Broncos moved the ball well when Beck was leading the way. Beck is a full-time member of the tight ends room but he occasional jumps over to the running backs in practice to pick their brains. The chemistry between Beck and the running backs is important.

In the Broncos new zone-running system, the running backs are responsible for more decisions. When Beck is on the field leading the way, he is just as responsible for those reads.

“[Tight ends] coach [Jake] Moreland, [running backs] coach [Tyrone] Wheatley and the backs have done a great job of helping me out seeing it, how they see it,” Beck said. “The big thing that they teach us is you gotta read it like you have the ball. I’ve been working on that, because I obviously don’t carry the ball out of the backfield a lot.”

If Beck keeps producing, he might start getting the ball a little bit more.

With the clock ticking in the fourth quarter, head coach Nathaniel Hackett drew up a shovel pass to Beck, who ran into the end zone untouched. But Courtland Sutton was called for a false start, and the play was negated.

“One of our big Achilles heels on Monday was penalties,” Beck said. “Twelve as a team. It’s tough to win like that.”

Who knows, maybe Beck will get another play drawn up for him this Sunday.