ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Don’t go looking for Ben DiNucci to greet you at a Walmart near you.
Not that it wouldn’t be the world’s greatest gig. It’s just that DiNucci is doing too good a job as a professional quarterback to start thinking about a second career.
Following his tryout this weekend at the Broncos' rookie minicamp, DiNucci reached an agreement to sign on to Denver's 90-man, offseason roster, pending his physical Monday. The Broncos also reached agreement with another XFL star, running back-fullback Jacques Patrick, following his tryout and pending his physical Monday.
During the 2-plus hour practice Saturday for the Broncos’ rookie minicamp, DiNucci was a vet among rooks. Which was the case over the Mother’s Day weekend at the Broncos’ training center. During an extended walk-through and 11 on-11 team periods in front of media viewing on a thick overcast Saturday, DiNucci was clearly the man in charge who made sure his teammates ran play after play without a missed assignment.
“Feel comfortable,’’ DiNucci said after the minicamp practice. “I had five offenses in five years in college so I’m kind of used to picking stuff up on the fly. Just had to learn a whole new offense in a month in the XFL and the run-and-shoot with June Jones is not an easy one to learn. The past two years have really got me ready for this. Feel pretty confident with how I’m playing, how I’m performing and how I’m picking up stuff.”
A rookie way back in 2020, when he was a 7th-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys out of James Madison, DiNucci was thrown in to start a game early in his first NFL season. It was in the hostile environment of Philly, against the NFC East-rival Eagles. The Cowboys didn’t win but DiNucci acquitted himself well, completing 21 of 40 passes for 180 yards without an interception and carried the ball 5 times for 22 yards.
He hasn’t played in an NFL regular season game since, although he came off the Cowboys’ bench in preseason game No. 1 last year against the Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Trailing 17-0 when he entered midway through the third quarter, DiNucci on his first play connected on a 40-yard completion down the right sideline to Brandon Smith. DiNucci directed two long drives that ended in a missed field goal and a 12-yard touchdown pass.
“I remember an electric fan base up here,’’ DiNucci said from in front of his Broncos’ locker. “The ball traveled a little bit quicker, a little bit further with the altitude. Excited for another opportunity, to get back in an NFL locker room, show what I can do. Been a long last few weeks playing in the XFL.”
Yes, the XFL. Waived by the Cowboys as part of their final cuts last season, DiNucci wound up playing for Seattle in the XFL. In 10 games, he led that league with 374 pass attempts, 242 completions and 2,671 yards. Seattle won its division with a 7-3 record and DiNucci’s 20 touchdown passes were second in the XFL to AJ McCarron’s 24. To show DiNucci’s command of the June Jones’ offense, he only took 11 sacks. McCarron was sacked 27 times in 79 less pass attempts.
“For me it was all about reps,’’ DiNucci said. “The thing about backup quarterback, especially in this league, reps are hard to come by. The past few preseasons I maybe got a few quarters here and there. So the second opportunity was awesome. Many guys don’t get them.
“Realized this might be my last chance at this thing so go all out, put one foot in front of the other. Control what I can control every single day. Really just rewarding for me to see all the hard work pay off and be out there this weekend.”
DiNucci, 26, was one of five NFL veteran players the Broncos invited to try out this weekend during the rookie minicamp and is under consideration to be signed to the team’s 90-man roster.
He did throw a pick-six to rookie linebacker Drew Sanders during a 7 on 7 drill Saturday that was almost incidental next to his overall practice performance. Head coach Sean Payton said he had just been bragging to team owner Greg Penner about how well DiNucci had looked when the interception was thrown right in front of Penner, who was watching from the sidelines. That’s when Payton delivered his Walmart greeter joke to DiNucci as Penner still serves as chairman of Walmart.
DiNucci laughed off the kid. No promises have been made to DiNucci about signing up to the Broncos’ offseason roster but after Russell Wilson and Jarrett Stidham, the Broncos have just one other quarterback, Jarrett Guarantano, a second-year pro who has yet to appear in an NFL game.
So DiNucci has a shot. Especially since he has proven to be such a quick study of Sean Payton’s offense.
“For the most part the plays are the same,’’ DiNucci said. “It’s really just how fast you pick up on terminology. There’s some different nuances, 12 personnel, 21 personnel, stuff like that. I haven’t been under center much in my career so to be able to expand my game a little bit, work sone under-center stuff and coach Payton, his track record speaks for itself. His offense and his quarterbacks always produce. To be able to learn from him, pick his brain a little bit, he’s top-notch when it comes to quarterbacks’ coaches. It’s been awesome to get out here and run a little bit and show what I can do.”
Patrick is a huge back at 6-foot-3, 234 pounds. He has spent NFL time with four teams, including the 49ers and most recently the Bengals. He finished second in the recently-completed XFL season with 443 yards rushing.
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