They stand a few yards behind the quarterback, hands on thigh pads, head on a swivel.
With one quarter of the 2005 NFL season gone, it’s clear a committee has formed at Broncos’ running back.
Mike Anderson chairs the committee. Tatum Bell and Ron Dayne take turns as first alternate.
“That’s a good way to put it,” said Gary Kubiak, the Broncos’ offensive coordinator. “I think it’s going to be that way all year. All three are going to play. But as long as Mike’s getting the job done and he’s fresh, he’s going to stay on the field.”
Given that the rushing yardage in football approaches the glamour of the home run in baseball, the Broncos’ tailback rotation has its spins.
To fantasy nerds, the Broncos’ running game is a weekly hair pull. Anderson, at his current pace, would finish as the Broncos’ leading rusher with 1,068 yards. Remember, 1,000-yard rushers aren’t as celebrated as back in the day – 18 of the 32 NFL teams had one last year. If form holds, Anderson would have the second-lowest total for a top running back in the 11-year Mike Shanahan era.
But wait. The musical-chairs jingle hasn’t stopped. Keeping with the current pace, Anderson would have his 1,068 yards, but Bell would finish with 616 and Dayne would have 212.
This brings the projected three-man total to 1,896 yards. Top that, Clinton Portis.
“Looking at it personally, it’s played out great for me and I think it has for the team as a whole,” Anderson said. “Our offense is moving the ball, getting key first downs and when we get the opportunity, we’ve been putting points on the board. It’s working.”
The genesis of this rotation was the trade two years ago that sent Portis to the Washington Redskins, whom the Broncos play Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile High. In exchange for Portis, the Broncos got cornerback Champ Bailey and a draft pick they turned into Bell.
Portis rushed for more than 1,500 yards in each of his two seasons with the Broncos, and a tailback committee has replaced him ever since. Anderson would have received the first chance in 2004, but when he suffered a season-ending groin injury in preseason, a rotation of Reuben Droughns, Bell and Quentin Griffin combined for 1,947 yards.
Anderson worked his way back to No. 1 tailback this year, but his rebound sparked further motivation for the committee. At 32, there’s no sense pretending Anderson is 22. He needs the periodic blow.
Where the Broncos’ running back rotation gets quirky is at No. 2 tailback. Dayne didn’t dress for the first game, was a hero in the second, but rushed only five times combined in games three and four.
“I don’t know how (the rotation) works, to tell you the truth,” Dayne said. “I just go out and prepare every week and when I get the opportunity, play hard.”
Bell appeared buried on the bench, in part because of a sprained ankle, in the second game and halfway through the third. He then practiced behind Dayne before facing Jacksonville last week, but wound up getting 15 carries for 60 yards.
“I’m still running No. 3 this week, too,” Bell said. “I still have my number (26), though, and whenever they call my number, I’ve got to be ready. I got 15 carries at No. 3, so I don’t think that’s bad.”
With the Redskins’ defense so rugged up front, the 245-pound Dayne could get more carries behind Anderson than the 208- pound Bell. But regardless, Anderson carries first.
“We start a game with a designation rotation,” Kubiak said. “As we get going, a lot of times the guy with the hot hand will stay on the field.”
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-820-5440 or mklis@denverpost.com.
