When Head Coach John Fox met with the press on Sunday, his first session following the signing of running back Willis McGahee, he noted that he was of the opinion that you really need two backs for success in a running game.
More and more fans are coming to the realization that running backs take a terrific pounding, and the long National Football League season finds that teams which have fresh legs can have the greatest success in the backfield.
With that in mind, let’s look at the seasons in Denver history when the Broncos had their best rushing totals with tandem backs — and considering that the initial American Football League seasons were of 14 games, we’ll mostly include backs who reached the 500-yard milestone, either leading the team, or finishing second behind the Broncos’ leading rusher.
The first year of that type came back in 1965, when Cookie Gilchrist led the team with 954 yards as Denver’s fullback and free agent Wendell Hayes added 526. Cookie was a powerhouse back who is regularly listed in the Football Encyclopedia among the best 300 players ever to play the game, although he is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Floyd Little era began in 1967 and as one might imagine by Little’s recent induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Floyd carried the rock for Denver, from 1967 through 1975.
But in 1971 Floyd had 1,133 yards while University of Colorado product Bobby Anderson added 533. Bobby was a great player at CU after a high school career in Boulder as well, so he was as local as one could get, and just about as popular also. Good player, tough runner.
Fullback Joe Dawkins had a fine year with 706 yards in 1973, the Broncos’ first winning season, to offset the team leading 979 by Little.
The 1977 season is noteworthy in that one of the keys to Denver’s first Super Bowl campaign was alternating backs: Otis Armstrong had 489, Lonnie Perrin 456, Rob Lytle 408 and Jon Keyworth 311, as the foursome had most of the carries in that championship season.
Dan Reeves took over as Denver’s head coach in 1981, and that year Rick Parros led the team with 749 yards while Dave Preston was right on his heels with 640.
The next time two Bronco backs each had 500 or more years in a year, one was destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1988 Tony Dorsett gained 703 while the popular Sammy Winder added 543 of his own.
The great championship years featuring Terrell Davis in the Bronco backfield of course had most of the carries going to Terrell.
However, in 2001 TD had 701 rushing yards and Mike Anderson chipped in with 678.
Anderson was the leader with 1,104 in 2005 and Mike Bell added 921, and the following year Tatum Bell had 1,025 and Mike Bell contributed 677.
In 2007 Chris Young had 729 yards and Travis Henry picked up 691 and most recently, Knowshon Moreno had 947 in 2009 while Correll Buckhalter added 642.
It is not as easy as one might think to have two backs get enough carries for 500 yards, but there are a lot of ways to success with a running game in the NFL.
And proof of that is that the running game can also get a real big boost from the quarterback position — if the quarterback is a special guy like John Elway.
In 15 of his 16 seasons with the Broncos, John Elway had the remarkable distinction of being among the four leading rushers on the team. And the Broncos won, a lot, as the trophy case shows.
It will be a lot of hard work, but the running game is coming back in Denver.
Tags: Jim Saccomano
imready, you are so sarcastic, the reference about Woody was simply to imply that he is always utterly critical of things Broncos like I am and so that is a compliment from him saying we will win 6 games and then you take it where you did, whatever…
Do you guys think Hardy can beat out Ayers for the starting job? I don’t know a lot about Hardy other then looking up his stats. Perhaps the compition will put a fire under Ayers. We’ve struggled with injuries at the position, so the depth is great.
Woody is your buddy, not mine. I’ve read his articles, I’ve heard him speak, I think he’s a jackass. He’s an entertainer, not a journalist. Nothing wrong with that , I’m a jackass at times myself and it’s fun to entertain. I had a mircophone in my hands for 17 years, it wsa a blast. It’s just not somebody I’m going to take serious. I didn’t know you were like Woody, I thought you were like Fox. Make a list for me of people who you are like so I know who I can speak openly about without offending you. LOL
*Harvey
3rdgen I think this is a bubble year for Ayers. Maybe he’s happy to put his hand on the ground this year and work from his natural position DE. New number, attitude. I hope he wins the spot. If not it’s another wasted draft pick imo.
Robert Ayers natural position is DE and thats where he`s most comfortable and knows his craft. He should have a breakout year.
I totally agree strands. Just hope you’re right about the breakout part
Well here is what I came up with off the top of my head…but I’m not finished with my coffee,so I might change it:
Ayers-Warren-Vickerson-Doom……Dline
Harvey-Bunkley-Thomas-McBean-Hunter…backups
DJ-Mays/Irving-Miller…….LBs
Woodyard-Mays/Irving-Haggan…..backups
Champ-Dawk-Moore-Goody……..Secondary
Jones/Cox?-Carter-McBath-Sydquan….backups
We really need an upgrade at Nickel Corner!!
and extend Clady’s contract!!!
Give Ayers a chance at DE,in college he had a great senior year,and dominated in the Senior Bowl!
He just couldn’t transition into an OLB,put him back at DE,and watch him go!!!
I think Doom was the exception and the one that kind of broke the mold so to speak. He played DE switched to weak OLB and was the sack leader. Not a lot of players can make that kind of switch so it wasn’t surprising that Ayers couldn’t follow suit. I expect that Ayers will be more comfortable and productive in his natural DE spot…I hope.
Thanks baylinorcrush for setting me straight..
8 minutes ago:
Adam Schefter on Broncos QB situation: “The Denver Broncos are not going to trade Kyle Orton. That’s not going to happen.”
When Shefter speaks people usually listen…
OK thanks Bay. It`s a done deal, Kyle is staying. It`s probably for the best.
Brian, there is probably a little bit of truth in both our sources, but money is usually the bottom line as evident in every aspect of this FA.
BFE, thats a pretty good line-up dude.
This is the amazing part about landing Warren:
Denver won a battle with Kansas City to land Warren. The Chiefs had to be confident they would land Warren since he has New England ties with Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel.
Yet it’s doubtful the Chiefs were willing to match Denver’s generous contract.
I’ll go on a limb again and say we may very well have hit the jackpot there. Now healthy and with a whole year off to rebuilb his body, that 30 year old could very well be the anchor to our D.
I can honestly say that is the most excited about our front 7 I have been all off season considering I was a Dareus fan, even so Miller will be a great addition.
Of course Miller will be more visible and get more accolades, that comes with his position and assignements, but Warren will be in the trenches doing the dirty work quietly piling on the tackles like he always has.
One more year of Orton at the helm,I guess I can take it,but I don’t know if my heart can!
You guys keep forgetting about the CFA we picked up at CB by the name of Bing. I have heard that he is turning heads in practice.
bay…..with Miller and Warren,we have our LB and DT,win win situation.
Bing might make the team,I hope he is as good as everybody says he is,we need a CB pretty bad,maybe Bing is the answer!
I hate pinning my hopes on a CFA tho!
Man I just hope horrible Orton does not put us in position to draft Luck without even given Tebow a chance.
Thanks strand,but the lineup will probably change,if we keep picking up FAs.
Bing is a rookie with a severely shortened off season, no way he can contribute in a major way at CB, even at nickel, it just takes time, we need a CB bad believe me.
Yeah, I know in the end the only thing that matters is $$$.
Ok, so Orton is the starter for now. Unless Tebow kicks it in the rear and beats him out. Maybe this year Orton can share some of his knowledge with Tebow and Quinn instead of hoarding it.
Mikey,that’s what I’m afraid of,Tebow not getting a fair shot,and if anyone has ever deserved a fair shot,it’s Tebow!!!
If Orton has another season like last, he’ll wish his head wasn’t so swollen when the Miami talks were happening.
I believe in Bing, he has the speed to give Hume a little room for mistakes and it’s not like he would be starting this season he could make for a back up. Not to mention every practice blog he is making an interception or breaking on the ball to make a play.
Hopefully at least Tebow will get to come in on certain plays,in this new Offense I hope they have designed plays especially for Tebow,he needs to get SOME playing time!
Sometimes, the way things are going, I can almost see Brian’s reasoning that for the sake of Tebow we should entertain trading him now, giving him a fair shot, unless of course Elway has already decided that he would give no consideration to drafting Luck or any other potentially starting QB next year. But going Orton this year so Tebow rides the bench and drafting someone like Luck next year would be a major slap in the face for Tebow, kind of the same slap in the face Quinn got from McD when he was brought here to compete with Orton and ended up being relegated to pencil pusher/clipboard holder when McD drafted Tebow. But McD was a jerk, we know that, Elway is nothing like it, so I expect better whatever the plan is, just saying.
Bing or no Bing, we are just not deep enough at CB, and at FB too. Let’s get to work on those two areas and I’ll be officially switching alliance to the optimist side, haha..
For all the Madden lovers out there, myself included, they just released Broncos ratings on Madden!!! Here they are, mainly for myself and TRB haha but anyone else that is interested!!
http://espn.go.com/espn/thelife/videogames/madden12ratings/_/team/den/id/7/denver-broncos
Maybe in some crazy way all these moves we thought were for helping Tebow are in all reality moves for helping Luck out if we try and draft him next year…
So I am sure this has already been said on this blog but I did not want to read all the way through it to find out.
1) love the pic of TD pounding the rock…with a raider falling behind no less!!
2) the running game can get a boost from the QB position with a guy like Elway…ie…a mobile QB which Orton is not and Tebow is…Hmmmmm Tebow time!!!!
Well looks like we are most likely keeping orton, i guess this puts us in the Andre Luck sweepstakes.
The Broncos will wear there orange jerseys Week 1 vs. Oakland MNF and Week 8 vs. Detroit
Weren’t we trying to get the orange jerseys back to our normal home jerseys?
2012
Seahawks sign TE Zack Miller to 5 year 34 million dollar contract. with 17 million garunteed,wow,that’s a lot of dough for a TE!!!
They need a QB worse than a TE!
Thank you Schefter!
Now let’s focus on putting together a solid season. All 3 phases. Each level.
We will NOT be in position to draft Luck. Tebow may get us a 3rd round pick in trade.
For all of you who want Tebow to be our QB in the future, this is the best case scenario.
Who knows? Orton may surprise us all. And in the case he does disappoint, Tebow gets a minimum of 5 games. Think about it!
Tebow Time in 2012 (with a solid D and efficient O, he will have the best chance to succeed!)
We have a QB that could probably play TE
I think Orton may surprise us, but sole depends on how efficient our rushing attack is and how well our defense can perform. We’ve all seen how Orton performs when he doesn’t have either of those.
They will probably still pick the Faders ahead of us even tho they lost Miller and Asomugha,and we upgraded our Defense!!!
new blog
*soley
It’s awesome, they gave Miller an 87 on speed in Madden!!
Guys, if Tebow doesn’t start this year, or any year for that matter, he can still be a great Denver Bronco. There is no 3rd string QB anymore, we could have him in the backfield anytime we want if he is not designated #2. He’s a great athelete, a gamer and a leader. You can’t have too many guys like that on your team. I hope McCoy is thinking outside the box on this one. It would be a blast to see Tebow mowing some guys down or tossing a bomb down field.
Andrew Luck is probably going to be a great football player in the NFL. I think he will hit the ground running like Sam Bradford, who wouldn’t want that guy leading the offense?
broncoaussie – good breakdown with the DT’s that will play 1-tech and 3-tech.
In 4-3 system usually 1-technique, will line up on the strongside shoulder of the center. The most important thing for a 1-tech is that he should be able to stand his ground against double-teams. Any penetration or pass rush from a nose tackle is gravy, but if he can resist getting blown backwards, the rest of the defense has a chance. Taller DT’s usually struggle with 1 tech but hey, this is the NFL !
1 – tech will usually attack the a gap.
3- technique, 3-technique, which is on the outside shoulder (outside shade as we used to call it), of the weakside guard. The 3-tech is expected to play the B gap while simultaneously squeezing the A gap and trying to prevent cutbacks. With pass blocking, 3- tech should be able to beat single block and collapse the pocket. 3 tech will attack a or b gap or stunt with rush DE stunting to b gap.
Ty Warren playing 5-tech in 3-4 at DE will have flexibility to play 1 tech or 3 tech however 5-tech DE in 4-3 could be a challenge at his weight. Not saying he can’t do it though.
Warren is a versatile lineman which is a great addition for the Broncos!
are you kidding me? This article doesn’t even get the names right of some of the Broncos players it mentions in the past 10 years! 2007 – Chris Young? Who? I think you mean Selvin Young. And in 2005 it wasn’t Mike Anderson and MIKE Bell, it was Tatum Bell. Can’t you at least know the names of the players before you write an article? Damn.
boedavi before you get you panties in a twist there was a mike bell to and there was a chris young on the broncos team to. Google first before you get all bent out of shape.
krimlon, i am well aware that there was a Mike Bell and there was a Chris Young, but those are not the players that the article is referring to, Mike Bell was in college in 2005, not on the Broncos…why don’t you actually know what you’re talking about before you try to correct someone’s facts with your stupidity