Denver Broncos Free Agent Review: Daniel Fells

by Colby on Feb 12, 2012 4:00 PM MST in 2012 Denver Broncos Offseason

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 08: Daniel Fells #86 of the Denver Broncos runs the ball against William Gay #22 of the Pittsburgh Steelers during the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 8, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

2011 seemed to be the emergence of the tight end in the NFL. Several tight ends made a lot of big plays in key situations for teams changing the way offenses ran. Daniel Fells was the Broncos starting tight end. Should he come back?

Daniel Fells

#86 / Tight End / Denver Broncos

Height: 6-4

Weight: 272

Born: Sep 23, 1983

College: UC Davis

OVERVIEW:

Daniels Fells spent the last three seasons with the Rams as a reserve tight end only starting 11 games in three seasons. He was an undrafted college free agent who started with Atlanta. He came to the Broncos as a free agent signing immediately after the end of the lockout.

2011 SEASON:

	Receiving						Kickoff Returns					Punt Returns
G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	Lng	TD	KR	YDS	AVG	Lng	TD	PR	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD
14	19	256	18.3	13.5	32	3	1	20	20.0	20	0	0	0	0	0	0

Daniel Fells at times this season came up big for the Broncos. The numbers do not look too impressive but Fells was a large part of the Broncos late season charge. He was strong in run blocking which is the reason he was the starter over Julius Thomas and Virgil Green. He came up with a monster catch against Miami that allowed the Broncos to come back in that game.

In 2011 Daniel Fells made $1.5 million and the cap hit was the same. If the Broncos could bring Fells back for that much it might be worth it but he might command a little bit more if he is going to stay in this type of offense where he is limited as a pass catcher.

The franchise tag number for a tight end this season would probably be in the $5.5 million range so that would not be worth it for the Broncos to take that route. Fells' production was not worth that much when it could be used on an upgrade somewhere.

WHAT TO DO?

I think the Broncos should part ways with Daniel Fells. Although he made some great plays for us this season, an upgrade has to be available somewhere. I believe someone like Jermichael Finley or John Carlson would be more of an upgrade worth the multi-millions that Fells might want to stay here. We have two young tight ends and it could even be addressed again in the draft if the right player is there.

Poll

Should Daniel Fells be re-signed?

Yes

430 votes

No

255 votes

685 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 24 comments | 1 recs |

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Comments

I think this is a no brainer. We should re-sign Fells and it would be pretty cheap to do so.

He is a good blocker and an under rated receiver. He didn’t get a lot of looks but neither did any of our other TEs. He did however come up clutch many times this season. I think he is the perfect vet to compliment our developing young TEs. Green really cam on as a blocker last year so the two of them would be great plus all three have the ability to catch and stretch out defenses if we can just figure out how to use them.

Keep Fells. Don’t make a whole where there doesn’t need to be one.

Also signing a big name FA like Carlson or even drafting another TE early doesn’t mean that our offense will suddenly incorporate them more or that Tebow will even check down to them as much. Our lack of TE usage was due to playcalling and Tebow’s progression not because of lack of talent IMO.

Tim Tebow wears 3WM and drinks Tuscan whole milk.

by BroncoMath101 on Feb 12, 2012 5:13 PM MST reply actions

I don't think it's a no brainer

I think a few fans wouldn’t like to resign Fells and will provide us some valid reasoning. However, I agre with you and your argues. I think we should resign him.

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by Fabio Broncos on Feb 12, 2012 5:43 PM MST up reply actions

I think resigning him is good for alot of people.

Timmy Tebow: He has already played 1 year with him and add in an offseason of working together, I could see his #’s go up next year. Timmy needs to start trusting his under recievers and not always going for the deep ball.
Daniel Fells: Working in the same O for another year with a QB that is only going to get better and trust him more means he gets to catch more passes. I could see him getting atleast 30 balls next year.
Mike McCoy: He trust Fells. Look at what he did to Pittsbugh on that pass when Polamula ran up on the play action and Fells went deep on him. We could see that more with an unproved run game.
Run Game: Fells is a good-great blocker. Our RB trust his blocking.
Thomas and Green: There get a full offseason to work and another year under an experienced TE to learn from.

by Bron#1 Fan on Feb 13, 2012 5:24 AM MST up reply actions 2 recs

Fells

I agree, they should be able to be resign him on the cheap. I always liked him. Just think they needed to get him more involved.

by broncosfan1129 on Feb 12, 2012 5:27 PM MST reply actions

Unless its a superstar, we should be playing The Price is Right with every FA.

Fells is a great run blocker that comes through when needed in the receiving game. If it is a similar cap hit to last season then he is a must, both Green and Thomas both project to be better pass catchers than run blockers.

by OrangeCrushT.O on Feb 12, 2012 5:32 PM MST reply actions

TE

Daniel Fells could easily be replaced without being missed too much.
There are three main guys that would fit well on team to replace him:
JAKE BALLARD
JOEL DREESON
or
Draft Dwayne Allen
Look them up

by Bleedorange on Feb 12, 2012 5:57 PM MST reply actions

But why would any of them be any better? I guarantee the problem is not the TE but the play calling and Tebow getting through his progressions instead of looking for the home run every time.

None of those guys would come in and make our passing game any better just because they did for other teams who actually incorporate the TE more. Look back at Fox’s offenses and see if they had any TEs who were top 10 in pass catching at their position.

Tim Tebow wears 3WM and drinks Tuscan whole milk.

by BroncoMath101 on Feb 12, 2012 8:39 PM MST up reply actions

Unless these guys would upgrade Fells, why fix it if its not broken?

That said, that be awesome if we could get Joel Dreesen, only because he’s from Ft Morgan

"It's all over fat man!"
-Tom Jackson
"When John Elway is standing in lava with a football, he will stay there and sink until you're open"
-Seanbaby

by Calikula on Feb 12, 2012 9:21 PM MST up reply actions

Fells

Wasn’t he just an awful run blocker? Profootballfocus seems to think so. I thought I saw some really lousy misses, too. The tight end that had the second-most snaps was Virgil Green, and PFF thinks he outscored Fells in just about every category. Dante Rosario did pretty well this year as well, aside from a couple of unfortunately penalties.

Fells did have some really grab high visibility catches (this spruced up his WPA stats) but I’m not sure we hold on to him unless his blocking improves dramatically in the offseason.

by tunesmith on Feb 12, 2012 6:14 PM MST reply actions

Fells is a poor starter

We needed him, because our rookies were not ready or injured. Fells ended up being our starter, but he didn’t impress. Production from TE was non-existent and blocking wasn’t all that great either. Fells would be cheap to resign, but that’s about all that goes for him.

Rosario was even worse than Fells. I’d say we let him walk, and look for an upgrade in FA (not draft – we’ve just spent 2 picks on the position). If we are unable to land an upgrade, Fells or someone of equivalent quality will be available on the market late.

Let him walk, he is nothing special and easily replaceable.

by si_ice on Feb 12, 2012 6:45 PM MST reply actions 1 recs

I agree

If he can’t find a job we can resign him for cheap.

by alkatraz76 on Feb 12, 2012 7:38 PM MST up reply actions

I don't put TE production on our TEs at all this year. Its like saying Eric Decker is a bad receiver with Tebow because Tim couldnt' get him the ball more.

Tim Tebow wears 3WM and drinks Tuscan whole milk.

by BroncoMath101 on Feb 12, 2012 8:40 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs

Fells was underrated this year. I'd bring him back.

On a side note, I love the fact that the broncos signed Ingram at TE. I’m loving that 84 speed on Madden haha.

by tiderfootball09 on Feb 12, 2012 6:54 PM MST reply actions

Look at the picture, he's clearly disorientated!

doesn’t know where the defenders are

by Sergio AppleSeed on Feb 12, 2012 8:40 PM MST reply actions

I will say one thing

He has a fumbling issue. You can tell by the way he holds the ball. Prone too fumbling.

by ShyandObese on Feb 12, 2012 9:01 PM MST reply actions

I think cheep or not at all.

The upside is he has promise but not a large enough body of work to demand much on the mkt. If he gets an offer we can refuse, then perhaps he will catch on somewhere else other than in the AFC West.

It is better to keep silent, and appear to be wise, then to ramble on aimlessly and remove all doubt! The Wisest Man, Solomon.

by metalman5050 on Feb 12, 2012 9:16 PM MST reply actions

Bring him back unless we are going to bring in a upgrade. With the uncertainty of Thomas and Green, I don’t know if we can afford not to resign him. I’m not saying Fells should be automatic to make the 53 man roster, but at his price it would likely be worth it until we can find that elite target for Tebow to use for mismatches on LB’s and Safeties. Maybe Coby Fleener?

"If we cannot find a way, we will make one." -Hannibal

by AvalancheRescueDog on Feb 12, 2012 9:38 PM MST reply actions