Troy Renck: The running joke about the running backs? If forced to pick between Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie, who you got? Cody Schrader. OK, that’s not entirely fair or true. But the Broncos were always going to face a tough decision on the 53-man roster after drafting Jonah Coleman. The rookie was a lock from the moment he showed up. That left two players for one spot. General manager George Paton called moving on from McLaughlin “probably the last decision we made.” So did the Broncos choose wisely in keeping Badie over McLaughlin?
Sean Keeler: Clearly, Badie found out who was taking pictures for Lil’Jordan Humphrey and got that dude under contract. I mean, I get it. I do. And I don’t. It’s a victory of film over eyeballs, the clever over the obvious. Badie blocks. Badie’s critical on special teams. Fine. Name something else he does better than McLaughlin. Tough yards north and south? According to Pro-Football-Reference.com data, Jaleel has a career “successful” rush rate of 53.5%. Badie’s at 35%. “Successful” reception rate? McLaughlin: 37.7%, Badie 37.1%. Fumble rate? McLaughlin has one in 285 regular-season touches. Badie’s had one in 43. Trust is a two-way street, but the only direction a Badie run play went last fall, by and large, was backward.
Renck: McLaughlin endeared himself to apountry with his ability and story. From sleeping in his car as a kid to making the team as an undrafted rookie from Youngstown State, McLaughlin made it easy to root for him. His work ethic was the stuff of legend, putting in a full day before teammates punched the clock. But, the reality is that keeping Badie made more sense. The fourth running back is a niche role. And Badie has responsibility as the up-man on the punt team, a spot he filled last season and during training camp this summer. He is also the reason the Broncos beat the Bills in the postseason. According to Sean Payton, a fake punt on fourth-and-11 in overtime — “Rutgers Special” — was called off despite the coach saying they got the right look. Video shows Badie scan the defense and look back at Jeremy Crawshaw before going ahead with the punt. If the trick play had not worked — the odds were against it — the Broncos would have almost certainly lost on a short field goal. That is a feather in the cap of the fourth back.
Keeler: So vetoing Sean Payton out of an embarrassing call on national television saves your bacon? That makes sense. Actually, it might be the only thing that makes sense. If you keep McLaughlin over Badie, you’ve got four backs who, in sets of two, sort of mirror each other. J.K. Dobbins and Jonah Coleman are super early-down and between-the-tackle runners who can catch and block enough to keep defenses honest. RJ Harvey and McLaughlin are smaller, elusive scatback types, capable of a house call anytime they touch the ball — especially if that call comes on a wheel route. If McLaughlin is in the game, it might be a run. Might be a throw. If Badie’s in the game, defenders can pin their ears back and make a beeline for Bo Nix, because No. 28’s in there to block. How is that a strategic advantage?
Renck: Fake punts aside, Badie is more trusted as a backup, third-down back. McLaughlin really had no spot on the offense, barring injury. He was also hurt by the fact that he struggled to gain any yards after contact. Not that Badie padded his resume. He was the featured performer in a running back screen, a play that was so ineffective we can only hope that new offensive coordinator Davis Webb ripped it out of the playbook, buried it under the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse and demanded it never be spoken of again. In the end, having a slight foothold on third and fourth down gave Badie more traction for the final roster spot and I am fine with that.
Keeler: We scribes don’t play favorites when it comes to your most beloved team/player/coach. Honest. But, by golly, we do root for narratives, sometimes. And McLaughlin’s hooked our hearts, full-stop. But we already know that Payton’s soft spot is only about as big as the Grinch’s heart in early December, with the hugs reserved for guys who played for him in New Orleans. Mark my words, good sir: Badie might have rescued Sunshine Sean from himself once. Yet there will be a critical game in December, or in the postseason, when injuries or circumstances force Badie to be on the field when he shouldn’t. And we’ll remember this day. And shake our heads.
