A. J. Derby

Alexander John Derby (born September 20, 1991) is an American former professional football tight end.

Derby was limited to performing the bench press due to his knee injury and successfully had 15 reps, placing him 13th among tight ends, only ahead of Oklahoma's Blake Bell.

[3] On March 4, 2015, Derby attended Arkansas' pro day, along with Trey Flowers, Darius Philon, Martrell Spaight, and 13 other prospects.

[4] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Derby was projected to be a seventh round pick or priority undrafted free agent by NFL draft experts and scouts.

[10] In 2016, Derby competed with Clay Harbor, Bryce Williams, and Steven Scheu in training camp to be the Patriots' third tight end.

[11] Unfortunately, head coach Bill Belichick named Derby the Patriots' fourth tight end behind Rob Gronkowski, Martellus Bennett, and Harbor.

Upon arriving in Denver, head coach Gary Kubiak named Derby the Broncos' fourth tight end on their depth chart, behind Virgil Green, Jeff Heuerman, and John Phillips.

[18] Throughout training camp with the Broncos, Derby competed against Green, Heuerman, Henry Krieger-Coble, Scheu, and Austin Traylor for the job as the starting tight end.

[19] New head coach Vance Joseph named Derby the third tight end the Broncos' depth chart, behind Virgil Green and Jeff Heuerman.

On October 1, 2017, Derby made four receptions for 75 receiving yards and scored the first touchdown of his career in Denver's 16–10 win against the Raiders.

[24] Upon arrival, head coach Adam Gase named Derby the fourth tight end on the Dolphins' depth chart, behind Julius Thomas, Anthony Fasano, and MarQueis Gray.