The Broncos opened up the offseason with their top two rushers from last year headed for free agency, but neither one wound up leaving town.
C.J. Anderson signed an offer sheet with the Dolphins as a restricted free agent, but the Broncos matched the four-year, $18 million deal and eventually brought Ronnie Hillman back on a one-year deal as well. Their return doesn’t mean the backfield playing time will work out the same way, however.
Devontae Booker arrived in the fourth round of the draft after an excellent career at Utah that showed NFL starter-level promise to go with Booker’s NFL starter-level aspirations.
“My message to Broncos fans is I want to be one of the best running backs to come out of Denver,” Booker said at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere event. “I’m not there to carry pads. I’m there to take someone’s job.”
One stumbling block for Booker is the torn meniscus he tore late last season. He hasn’t practiced yet this offseason and won’t be on the field for OTAs this week. Another is the presence of Anderson, who doesn’t have any problem with Booker gunning for his job or with putting his own foot forward.
“What do people want him to say?” Anderson said, via Mike Klis of KUSA. “It doesn’t matter what he says. I know what I can do. I know what I can do in this league. He’s coming in with confidence and he’s supposed to. I don’t have a problem with what he said. I said the same thing when I came in undrafted.”
The best case scenario for a Broncos offense is that all or some combination of Anderson, Hillman and Booker thrive this season regardless of where they rank on the depth chart. Denver sets up to be a run-first team and there will be plenty of chances to go around if they implement that plan successfully.
