Perhaps there should have been a sign hanging in the back of the Broncos’ locker room: Welcome to (a running back’s) paradise.
Because, for as many years as Mike Shanahan has been Denver’s coach, that’s exactly what it’s been. A dream world where no-names became stars, where a sixth-round draft pick becomes a Super Bowl MVP and where it seems almost anyone can be plugged in and rush for 1,000 yards.
“People have this idea that if I come to Denver, it is a foregone conclusion that I’ll be successful,” former Broncos running back Terrell Davis said.
And for good reason.
In Shanahan’s first 13 seasons in Denver, seven different backs broke the 1,000-yard barrier and the running game finished in the league’s top 10 every year but one.
But Denver’s current running game is in its worst shape in years — a casualty of a freak rash of injuries, a failure to find a lead back that has led to a revolving door of runners and an offense that has shifted from run first to run . . . maybe.
Denver enters today’s game against the Atlanta Falcons ranked 18th in the NFL with an average of 107.2 rushing yards per game and is on pace to finish with just over 1,700 rushing yards, which would be the worst total in Shanahan’s tenure. And none of Denver’s backs are threatening the 1,000-yard mark, not with four of them on injured reserve and another nursing a sore groin.
Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme has remained the same, so what has changed? How have the Broncos gone from having the game’s most feared rushing attack to one that today features a rookie fullback (Peyton Hillis), a previous Bronco (Tatum Bell) who was out of the league a week ago and a couple of newly signed tailbacks (P.J. Pope and Alex Haynes) with three career carries combined?
“I think we’ve thrown the ball a little more this year than we have in the past, but when you lose five of your (tailbacks), you’re always going to be tested,” Shanahan said. “But I still have a good feeling about the guys we’ve got.”
The Broncos’ depth in the backfield was devastated when they had to put three tailbacks on the injured reserve in one week this month: Michael Pittman (neck), Andre Hall (broken hand) and Ryan Torain (knee), all lost for the season.
Quality still counts
In the long run, perhaps the Broncos’ problems in the backfield can be blamed on overconfidence in a system that worked so well for so long.
“It should be easy to fit someone in. That’s what Shanahan believes. That’s because his system is so good that it don’t matter who is back there,” Bell said. “But it does. You got to be a quality back. You can’t be a scrub.”
Shanahan and running backs coach Bobby Turner have long been lauded for their ability to find the unheralded back and mold him into a star. It started with Davis, who was a sixth-round pick out of Georgia in 1995, Shanahan’s first draft as head coach.
Davis, now an analyst for the NFL Network, spent eight years in Denver and is the franchise’s all-time leading rusher. When he suffered a knee injury in 1999 and his replacement Olandis Gary rushed for 1,159 yards, a theory was born.
“In this business, there are things that people say and then everyone runs with it,” Davis said. “In Denver, it was that this is a system offense and anyone can rush for 1,000 yards and blah, blah, blah.”
Davis said that notion might have been unfair to the backs who actually played here, but for years, it proved true. The Broncos have drafted 12 running backs since 1995, only three in the third round or higher. They have had diminished success recently with undrafted rookies, starting with Mike Bell in 2006 and Selvin Young in 2007. Anthony Alridge, an undrafted rookie this year, was placed on injured reserve after training camp, but likely would have made the team.
“Even if that was the case, and you could plug anyone in this offense, it’s a big plus for the team and Coach Shanahan,” Hillis said. “It just means teams are jealous of what we got and wish they could do what we do.”
Running behind the offensive line’s innovative zone blocking scheme, players such as Clinton Portis — Denver’s most heralded back this decade — Mike Anderson, Rueben Droughns and Bell had good-to-stellar seasons. Portis, though, has been the Broncos’ only elite back since Davis retired.
Where’s the workhorse?
There was a common theme to the backs’ success beyond just the blocking system in front of them: Each of Denver’s 1,000-yard rushers under Shanahan had at least 230 carries.
In 2007, when the 1,000-yard streak ended, Travis Henry had the most carries (167) and only 691 yards. Young had 140 carries and a team-high 729 yards after he replaced Henry as the starter.
This season, no Denver back has reached 100 carries through nine games, as the Broncos have opted to pass far more than they run (346 passes, 219 runs). It was a trend that began in the preseason and persisted thanks to a strong young receiving corps and the inability of tailbacks to stay healthy.
Still, Broncos players and coaches repeatedly have scoffed at the idea they are becoming a pass-first offense, at least by choice.
“We’re still going to have to run the ball,” Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler said. “That’s a given. You have to run the ball, and you have to stop the run to win in this league.”
For now, that will be up to Hillis and Bell, who said he’s a more humble, patient and smarter player than he was during his first stay in Denver.
After being traded to Detroit in 2006 in the deal that brought cornerback Dre Bly to Denver, Bell said he realized just how good he had it here. He laughed when he was reminded that he was the last Broncos’ tailback to run for more than 1,000 yards when he totaled 1,025 yards in 2006.
“We’ve got the guys that can do it. For whatever reason, I don’t know why we’re not,” Bell said.
Shanahan is confident in his team’s running game and predicts success today.
“Tatum’s got the experience and the other guys have really stepped up,” he said.
Lindsay H. Jones: 303-954-1262 or ljones@denverpost.com
Backfield: like a bad episode of “ER”
A look at the Broncos running backs who have suffered injuries this season:
Peyton Hillis
Status: Practicing at fullback and tailback, could get bulk of carries against Atlanta.
11 carries
38 yards
0 TDs
Andre Hall
Status: Injured reserve (broken hand)
35 carries
144 yards
0 TDs
Michael Pittman
Status: Injured reserve (neck)
76 carries
320 yards
4 TDs
Ryan Torain
Status: Injured reserve (knee)
15 carries
69 yards
1 TD
Selvin Young
Status: Only one carry since injuring his groin Oct. 5; likely out today.
48 carries
268 yards
1 TD
Descent into mediocrity
The Broncos are on pace to rush for 1,716 yards this season, which would be the fewest yards in coach Mike Shanahan’s tenure:
Year Yards NFL rank
1995 1,995 5th
1996 2,362 1st
1997 2,378 4th
1998 2,468 2nd
1999 1,864 12th
2000 2,311 3rd
2001 1,877 10th
2002 2,266 5th
2003 2,629 2nd
2004 2,333 4th
2005 2,539 2nd
2006 2,152 8th
2007 1,957 9th
2008 *965 18th
*Through nine games
