It was on the first day of the new league year, Tuesday, March 10, 2015 when the Denver Broncos made news by being able to re-sign TE Virgil Green as well as bring in veteran TE Owen Daniels. The tight-end position was something they had to attack since they lost one of the leagues best, Julius Thomas in free-agency to the Jaguars.  Green & Daniels weren’t the only ones to sign with the Broncos on that day… Free-agent TE/FB Joe Don Duncan had a workout with the team where he impressed the coaching staff enough to leave as a member of the squad. Although this signing isn’t getting too much attention, this is certainly a low-risk, high-reward signing that can really payoff for Denver.

So you may be asking yourself, who is Joe Don Duncan? Well here you go… Duncan began his college football career as a walk-on defensive-lineman at Sacramento State but ended up suffering a micro fracture in his right femur and had to redshirt. From there he decided to transfer to one of the nations top junior colleges, El Camino in Southern California and played on the offensive side of the ball as a tight-end.  After 2 years at El Camino, Duncan had a handful of offers from D1 schools but took a visit to Division II Dixie State University where his brother, Jake Duncan, was playing linebacker at and on the visit, head coach Scott Brumfield offered Joe Don a full-ride scholarship in which he accepted.

Duncan made an immediate impact on the Red Storm during his first year in 2011, he was named a First-Team All-American and set school records in receptions (64), receiving yards (949), & touchdowns (9). Unfortunately, complications to his right femur forced him to sit out the entire 2012 season but that didn’t stop him from picking up from where he left off at in 2013. Duncan continued to break school records and was named an All-American once again for his senior year performance being able to haul in 71 receptions, 1,045 yards & 11 touchdowns.

After dominating the Division II level, Duncan’s name was heating up and was one of “Draft Twitter’s” favorite prospects. He caught the attention of scouts and was invited to the Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine. It was looking like there was a solid chance that the D2 prospect would hear his name called in the 2014 NFL Draft but 1 week before the Senior Bowl, Duncan broke his foot while working out. This forced him to miss the all-star game and limited him to only taking part in the bench-press workouts at the combine. While he wasn’t at full-strength, he was still able to grab the attention of scouts as he bench pressed 225lbs. 35 times, which is tied for most reps by a tight-end.

Fast forward to draft day, Duncan was expecting a phone call but never received one. “It was a tough day and a long, long weekend but looking back on it, I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was then because injuries are a serious thing when you’re in a business that involves your body. Your body is out here performing for these teams and when you’re not 100% healthy then that’s going to affect their decision.” Duncan received an invite to the Indianapolis Colts rookie mini-camp which usually takes place a few weeks after the draft. “I thought it went well, I wasn’t fully 100% at that point, I was probably at about 80, 85% so that hindered me a little bit and I think that where I was at physically and with the chance of re-injuring my past injuries, they decided not to sign me which I understand. In the NFL, they need guys that’ll be there and not be injured. Its a business and you need to be in top shape all the time and I wasn’t there at that time.”  When I asked Duncan when exactly it was that he was back to feeling 100%, he told me that it wasn’t until “August or September.”

You’re probably wondering what exactly Duncan was doing with his time last season since he wasn’t playing football anywhere… Of course he was constantly working out and staying in tip-top shape just in case that special phone call came his way, but he was also back at Dixie State and was apart of the football teams coaching staff. “Coaching has helped me not only as a person but as a player. It’s different when you’re playing the game for 6 years like I did. Once you go into coaching, you have a different view of how the game is played, how plays work, what to look for, offensive schemes, defenses, stuff like that so me being a coach this past year not only showed me a different view from a coaches perspective but just a watching perspective as well where I’m watching from the sideline, up top, watching film everyday.”

Making the dream come true

On March 10th, Duncan flew out to Denver to workout with the Broncos. “I ran a couple forty’s for them and then they immediately put me through a lot of back drills, H-back drills, catching the ball out of the backfield, it was a combination of tight-end & H-back drills. I also got a few snaps in for them so that they can see that I can still snap. It probably lasted about 45 minutes or so. I’ve heard nothing but positive things from the workout, I’m sure there were somethings that I could’ve done better but overall I think that they saw that I was healthy and that I was ready to go.”

“I ran into Coach Kubiak & Coach Pariani at the combine last year during the interview process and we hit it off pretty well. We talked for about an hour, we got along well, I understood the schemes and what they were asking of me. From a personality standpoint, I felt that we meshed well. They were in contact with my agent & my coach throughout the draft process and then when the draft came, I don’t know if some guy was better than me or if I was a medical liability but either way, it didn’t workout but when the opportunity came to workout for those guys (Kubiak/Pariani) again, it was an easy mesh. No problems at all.”

Duncan says that he is very excited to join the Denver Broncos and is looking forward to learning from his new teammates. He says that from preparing physically and preparing mentally, he’s going to be soaking in as much information as he can to become a better player. As I said in the first paragraph, I see this as a great signing for the Broncos that will pay off dividends. Denver fans, you are getting a very versatile player (can play tight-end, full-back, H-back, even long snapper/kicker if needed) and a heck of an athlete. Below are videos of Joe Don Duncan’s highlights at Dixie State & pro-day.

Christian Shanafelt

Twitter: @ChrisShanafelt