Jonah Coleman’s time is coming. And coming soon. If you’re Broncos coach Sean Payton, why wait? Start your rookie tailback in the Walmart Bowl against the Rams on Sunday night, and

“I think all three of those (running backs) we’re discussing can be (a) bell cow, handle a majority of the carries,” Payton offered Monday during his weekly morning-after conference call.

“Yes, I think there’s a lot ahead of us this week relative to who our runners are going to be.”

Don’t over think it. Dobbins is the best dude. Really. Candid. Thoughtful. Forthright. Almost every trait you want out of an NFL RB1, he’s got. Speed. Burst. Power. Vision. Blocking. Receiving.

Just not “Availability.” Or “Health.”

“I know a lot of people always say, ‘Oh, he’s good for the first 10 weeks. ‘Like, I’ll be in the top three (in rushing) for the first 10 weeks, right?” Dobbins told us at the start of training camp in July. “Well, (in 2026), forget a top three. I’ll keep saying it. People think I’m crazy, but I’m going to be No. 1 (in the league). And I’m going to keep it there for the whole year. Seventeen games.

“Whoever has my (voodoo) doll … they’re done … Like, it����ap just done. I’ll pinky-promise all of you (reporters) …  if (17 games) happens, I’ll buy you a drink, or whatever you need.”

At the end of the third quarter of this past Sunday’s 20-13 comeback win over Jacksonville, Dobbins trudged to the locker room with a hamstring injury.

He never returned.

So much for that drink.

NFL insider Tom Pelissero X.com-ed Monday Me? I’ll believe it when I see it. I also believe the stats. And after two games, the numbers for the Broncos’ top three backs look like this:

• First-down carries: Coleman, 2.2 yards per rush with a score; Dobbins, 5.3 per rush; RJ Harvey, 6.0 per rush.

• Second-down carries: Coleman, 6.5 yards per rush; Dobbins, 2.5 per rush; Harvey, no attempts (one catch for 4 yards).

• Second-half carries: Coleman, 4.8 yards per rush; Dobbins, 5.3 per rush; Harvey, 5.0 per rush.

• Carries when leading or tied: Coleman, 5.1 yards per rush; Dobbins, 4.8 per rush; Harvey, 6.0 per rush.

• Carries inside the opponents’ 19: Coleman, 2.0 yards per rush with one score; Dobbins, -0.3 per rush; Harvey, no attempts.

I believe the tape. Coleman didn’t just tread water in J.K.’s absence against the Jags. The kid excelled.

On the rookie’s first NFL rushing touchdown, a 3-yard dive that gave the Broncos a 19-13 lead, he finished the play by striding to the back of the end zone, raising his right elbow high, and giving the fans in the end zone the Mile High Salute.

Turns out Coleman and the great Terrell Davis share a marketing rep. Young man does his homework on Mile High history, too.

“You just have to pay respect to the guys that came before you,” Coleman told reporters after the game. “(TD and I) talked before, talked a couple of times. He’s one of the best to ever to do it. I just felt like I could pay my dues and pay my respects because, at the end of the day, you are playing for something bigger than yourself.”

Something bigger than yourself.

Falling in love yet?

You should be. The Jaguars’ defense in Week 1 limited Cleveland to 87 yards on the ground and five rushing first downs. Over the final 15 minutes of Week 2, Coleman carried it eight times for 38 yards and a score, averaging 4.8 per tote. While the Broncos were nursing a seven-point lead over the final 7:21, Coleman rushed it six times for 33 yards (5.5 per carry). It was textbook, methodical, professional, good old-fashioned clock-killing. At its finest.

On a second-and-11 jaunt with 2:35 left and the Broncos up 20-13, the former Huskies back took the handoff from Bo Nix, bounced outside, found a rush lane and exploded up the field for a 12-yard gain.

Then the smarts kicked in. With Jacksonville defender and former CU Buffs star Travis Hunter closing in and time ticking away, Coleman had options. He could’ve lowered his shoulder and bowled over the skinnier defensive back. He could’ve juked No. 12. He could’ve dodged the ex-Buff and tried to extend his yardage by running out of bounds.

Instead, Jonah Coleman made like The Broncos rookie went to the ground immediately in a baseball slide, one arm on the ground, the other cradling the rock, before Hunter could push him out of bounds or try to poke the ball free.

“Jonah played very smart for a young kid, especially at the end there,” Nix said Sunday. “When everybody knows we’re running the football, he has to protect the football, run in-bounds, a lot of things are going through his head while he’s trying to run the ball well … you can tell he does a really good job of paying attention and he’s really smart and he’s got a great football IQ.”

When Coleman returned to the huddle, Super Bo greeted him with an attaboy slap across the helmet. In this AFC, even 25 seconds is probably too much time for the conference’s elite quarterbacks to work with. Thanks to Coleman’s headiness, Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence never got the ball back.

“We work on four-minute (scenarios), but that certainly didn’t feel like a rookie series, if you will,” Payton said after the game. “(Coleman’s) play right at the end, staying in bounds, that was something you cover, but maybe he doesn’t get those same (situational) reps in practice.”

You wouldn’t have known it. The eyes don’t lie. Neither does the back of a football card. Dobbins has missed 31% of the regular-season games his NFL teams have played from 2022-25. Coleman, meanwhile, was held out of one game last fall because his ankle got rolled, returned to the lineup, and played hurt after that. He didn’t skip a contest in ’24, ’23 or ’22.

“J.K. always preached to me, ‘Be ready for your opportunity,'” Coleman said after the game. “‘Be ready for your moment and take full advantage of it. You never know when your number is going to be called.'”

Call No. 20, Coach. Feed him. You’re only delaying the inevitable. And in this league, pinky-promises only go as far as your hamstrings can carry them.

The six-bedroom, eight-bath, 7,000-square-foot home on Foxtail Circle was sold Aug. 20 to DSMMEM Trust.

Davis and his wife, Tamiko, purchased the mansion for $3.3 million in August 2023.

Davis, a running back who won Super Bowl rings with the Broncos in 1998 and 1999, was the 1998 Super Bowl MVP and remains the Broncos’ all-time leading rusher. He retired before the 2002 season and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

Davis married Tamiko Nash in 2009, and they have three children. Tamiko Davis is an actress, model, and former Miss California who was first runner-up in the Miss USA 2006 pageant.

Davis moved his family to Denver in September 2022 after a long broadcasting career. He is the co-founder of Defy, a sports nutrition company, and a partner at Alpha 1 Tax & Wealth, which provides wealth management and retirement planning services.

Davis was part of the unsuccessful bid led by private equity billionaire Josh Harris to buy the Denver Broncos in 2022, when the team was instead bought by the Walton-Penner group.

The Buell Mansion home, built in 2004, includes a chef’s kitchen, an elegant dining room, and a music room.

The second floor features a primary suite with a steam shower and three additional bedrooms with en suite bathrooms. The home also has five fireplaces, two staircases, and three patio areas, including one with a fireplace.

Michelle Warner and Maddie Johnson with LIV Sotheby’s International Realty listed the home, while Ian Wolfe and Christopher Bouc, also of LIV Sotheby’s, represented the buyer.

Read more from our partner, .

With deep regret, we note that the season for negative televised political campaigns is back in action.

We, viewers and voters, are subjected to very ugly photographs and rhetoric. The ads from the Democratic Party’s two major candidates for Colorado governor, for example, are so brutal that they might lead us to two kinds of conclusions. One is that the stinging rhetoric will leave lasting images in our minds, even following the inauguration. We will ask ourselves if the winning candidate can be trusted. The other question is about the creators of this kind of material. Are they trustworthy? Are the candidates themselves responsible? “Why,” we might ask, “would any candidate allow this kind of destructive brutality to be aired on their behalf?”

What might an average citizen do to eliminate this toxicity and to insist on a higher, respectful level of political discussion? Perhaps each of us could call the campaign offices and register an official protest. As we communicate our deep displeasure, we can model respectful behavior in our phone calls.

Peter Hulac, Denver

Don’t cry for Colorado sports fans

Re: “Nix’s ankle. MacKinnon’s knee. Are Denver sports cursed?” May 26 sports commentary

Hey, Sean Keeler,

Kiss every bruise, interspersing my whooped behind. As a tortured Minnesota professional sports fan, I must say, questioning whether Colorado teams are cursed is equivalent to an Aspen billionaire spitting out a slightly stale serving of Caspian caviar over the hood of his trust-fund Porsche.

After reading your recent diatribe likening Bo Nix’s ankle, Cale Makar’s shoulder and Nathan MacKinnon’s knee to a Billy Goat-esque jinx, my fingers almost fell off from playing the world’s smallest violin for hours on end.

You speak as though the Centennial State hasn’t been fed professional championships via silver spoon for decades. John Elway and Terrell Davis did it twice. Peyton Manning added another. Nikola Jokić and Murray secured an NBA ring in 2023. The Colorado Avalanche have three Stanley Cups.

Try growing up 15 minutes away from the Minneapolis Metrodome. No matter how hard I scrub, the putrid stink of institutionalized loss follows me to every barstool. Norm Green kidnaps our former hockey team to Texas, a place where ice is exclusively used to chill Lone Stars. Gary Anderson misses a Super-Bowl-berth field goal. Kevin Garnett loses to Kobe Bryant, leaves Minnesota, wins a ring with Boston. Big Papi loses to David Eckstein, leaves Minnesota, wins a ring with Boston. Brett Favre, Anthony Edwards, Kirill Kaprizov, Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Professional Colorado teams are nowhere near cursed. Nix will heal. MacKinnon will heal. My derrière, however, will not.

Just ask Buffalo. They know what I’m talking about.

Ray K. Erku

Colorado sportsnation turns its lonely eyes to you, Rockies

2026 is proving to be the worst of times in Mile High sportsland! The Broncos faltered in the snow, the Nuggets floundered on the hardwood, and now the Avalanche fail on ice. It leaves all our hopes and prayers residing on the bottom-feeding Rockies.

Looking grim, folks, and the year’s not half over.

Harry Puncec, Lakewood

To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.

Parker �Ҳ����������:��Not if you ask head coach Sean Payton. He made it clear Monday he thinks the main area that the Broncos must improve in to win a Super Bowl title is turnover margin. No mention of the run game whatsoever. And, hey, if you take the ball away two or three times per playoff game, you’re going to have more license to play the way you want to offensively. The way the Broncos have played offensively has changed some since J.K. Dobbins’ injury, though. Their pass rate has ticked up from 57.6% pre-injury to 62.7% post-injury. More concerning, Denver’s overall averages per game and per run have dropped from 133.6 and 4.9, respectively, to 100 and 3.8. It takes more than just the running back to have a good running game, of course, and the Broncos have dealt with offensive line and tight end injuries along with Dobbins, but given the way the front has sustained in pass protection and elsewhere and the way the numbers fall on clean lines around Dobbins’, this feels more like a running back difference than anything else.

Renck: Harvey has delivered a memorable rookie season. He boasts 12 touchdowns. To put that in perspective, in the two years leading up to his 2,000-yard season, Hall of Famer Terrell Davis posted 15 apiece in 1996 and 1997. The difference? Davis was a bell cow. Harvey is more Liam Neeson, possessing a “very particular set of skills.” He does not need Siri to find the end zone. However, he is not Dobbins. Dobbins was good early, but a finisher late, averaging 5.6 yards per carry in the second half in 10 games. In the six games since Dobbins’ foot injury that might heal by the Super Bowl, Harvey has averaged 3.7 yards per attempt overall and 3.7 in the second half. For the Broncos to reach Super Bowl LX, they need Bo Nix to throw roughly 35 times per game. He might be too young, it might be too much to ask, but the Broncos require more from Harvey and the offensive line.

�Ҳ����������:��They need the defense to get back to its sure-tackling, red-zone-dominating ways, too, Troy. The game gets faster in the postseason. Nix and most of the Broncos got a taste of that last year in Buffalo. This defense should be ready to make that transition smoothly. They’ll be playing at home in front of a frothing crowd that hasn’t seen postseason football live in a decade. Another wrinkle I wonder about: Nix talked after the Chiefs game about recognizing at one point that he should have tucked the ball and ran. As the game went, he did that more. Payton dialed up a beauty of a designed draw for a 9-yard touchdown, Nix scrambled four times and finished with a season-high nine carries. He’s going to finish with fewer carries than last year — 92 as a rookie in the regular season vs. 75 heading into Week 18 this year, but the biggest difference is the production. He generated 41 first downs last year with his legs compared to 22 so far this season. One way to help Harvey and the run game in the postseason: Take the understandable regular-season governor off Nix and make him a featured part of the plan.

Renck: Harvey is showing more patience as he learns to go north-and-south, rather than bumping outside. He breaks tackles and is physical. One of two things need to happen moving forward. He must get more touches, meaning keeping him on the field on third down in place of the unproductive Tyler Badie. Harvey’s improvement in blitz pickup warrants additional snaps. Or Nix has to run roughly six times a game for more than 40 yards, easing the pressure on Harvey. The Chiefs game reminded us how dangerous Nix can be with his legs. Harvey has been great at the goal line, and mid everywhere else. The Broncos’ ability to make a run to the Super Bowl hinges on how well Harvey and Nix run over the next month.

Celebrity football coaching hires are a Hail Mary into a shark tank. Coach Prime brought a gold jacket, two Heisman Trophy-level talents in his luggage and national talking heads in his back pocket, ready to Or whichever school Sanders landed at.

But Bill Belichick? All soap opera. No substance.

Trent Dilfer? Fired after a 9-21 record at UAB.

Eddie George? 3-4 at Bowling Green. TBD.

DeSean Jackson? 4-3 at Delaware State. TBD.

Tim Tebow? A Rocky Mountain Showdown of Superman vs. Coach Prime would send ESPN into nuclear meltdown every six minutes.

Jay Norvell was finally let go in FoCo on Sunday after a month of awkward, uncomfortable speculation. The Rams need a football coach and a splash. Not necessarily in that order.

Speaking of splash, in August, I asked Broncos legend Terrell Davis, known pal of CSU president Amy Parsons, if he’d ever want to follow in Coach Prime’s footsteps.

“College coaching, I’ve never done that after I’ve played the game,” TD said, pondering as we spoke. “Unofficially, I’ve worked with some college kids. I did high school coaching.

“So I would never say ‘never.’ I’m a ‘never, never, say never’ guy. But highly unlikely that I would actually coach. Highly unlikely. Like, be a coach-coach? Full-time coach? Highly unlikely.”

OK, so that’s a ‘no.’ For now.

Call him anyway. Chase your Deion.

Just don’t forget to chase your Niko, too.

As in Niko Medved.

If I’m CSU athletic director John Weber, I want the kind of juice in my football program that Medved brought to men’s basketball. I want the next rising star in coaching circles. I want an up-and-comer who, if he does what I want and what the fans want, will probably be plucked by a Big Ten or SEC suitor one day.

I want someone I have to scrap to hire and fight to keep. Someone hip enough to relate to kids, young enough to evolve, confident enough to delegate and stubborn enough to chase championships.

I want

Klein is Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator. Let’s get this out of the way: He’s not Mike Bobo. He just turned 36. He played football at Loveland before turning into a Tebow-esque Heisman Trophy finalist for Kansas State.

He’s called plays for Bill Snyder. His offense under Chris Klieman won K-State a Big 12 title in 2022. His crew at College Station started the week averaging 36.1 points, 464.3 yards and 197 rushing yards per game.

He also knows the territory. He’s lived here. He’s recruited here. He’d open doors locally that Bobo, Steve Addazio and even Norvell either dismissed or ignored entirely.

And no, you can’t build a regional power, let alone a national one, on the backs of Colorado prep products. But you could start some and with them, last I checked.

CSU isn’t a great job. It’s a good one. A tricky one, too. The Rams are framing the Pac-12 as a leap, but it’s more of a logistical hop. Any Pac-12 without USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington isn’t the Pac-12 — it’s Mountain West-plus.

And among the schools that will comprise the new-look MW+, the Rams might be the fourth-best job out of an eight-team mix. Washington State and Oregon State have decades of deeper coffers. Boise State offers better brand value. On facilities, CSU should blow San Diego State, Fresno State and Utah State out of the water. On the field? Flip a coin.

Meanwhile, college football is working against CSU, and its soon-to-be Pac-12 peers, on multiple fronts. Just as the Big Ten and SEC treat the Big 12 and ACC rosters as minor-league feeder clubs, the Big 12 and ACC feel free to raid the Pac-12, AAC, and on down the line. When money and television drive the train, instability is the only constant.

CSU can either pull a CU and turn the athletic department over to an independent media empire, or it can counter-program and double down on the grass-roots approach, the eternal verities that Medved espoused. Niko also out-worked, out-recruited and out-coached most of his peers.

And he delivered what Rams faithful want first and foremost: dominance in their league and promises delivered. Norvell, in hindsight, fell short on both counts.

CSU never found its Carson Strong, a quarterback who could elevate the Rams the way Strong elevated Norvell’s Nevada squads. If you’re wondering where the Jay Era went wrong, start there. Clay Millen was supposed to be the franchise. Then Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi was supposed to save it. The former was shell-shocked by one of the worst offensive lines imaginable in 2021 and eventually flat-lined. The latter peaked as a redshirt freshman.

Norvell was — and is — a good soul. But an old one. He despised the ideas of pay-for-play, of agents, or third parties, of the lines between Power 4 football and the NFL blurring more by the day. Norvell fell reasonably on the curve, but where the curve was in 2018.

Not long after he was hired, the landscape shifted in ways CSU claimed they saw coming and in other directions — read: Deion — that no one in FoCo could have envisioned in Thanksgiving 2021.

Norvell was true to his beliefs and slow to adapt. A collegiate play-caller forever, he refused to give up the sheet, even when multitasking created game-management cracks that his talent simply couldn’t pave over.

Although in 2023, Norvell’s second season, that talent should have. CSU had arguably the best offensive player (Tory Horton) and best defensive player (Mo Kamara) in the Mountain West. The Rams that season went a disappointing 5-7, losing three of those games by eight points or fewer, including a double-overtime loss at CU on Sept. 16 — an outcome that, if the Rams had held on, might have changed the short-term fortunes for both programs.

CSU was promised the Air Raid. But instead of balls in the air the last three seasons, there were mostly yellow flags. It was too many weeks of watching the Rams find new, creative ways to sabotage themselves via a turnover or penalty.

Norvell last offseason hired a general manager to handle the emerging personnel stuff he disliked, but even that felt a little late. And somewhat coerced.

“I’ve told him this,” Rams GM Alex Collins said to me a few months back. “Because he always talks about, ‘Oh, my Nevada teams, my Nevada team.’

“I said, ‘Coach, if we would have moved the timeline a little bit, and you would have had that Nevada team, you would have had (your best players) for one year. Romeo Doubs would have been a UCLA Bruin. Cole Turner would have been a Washington Husky. And Carson Strong, bless his heart, probably would have finished at Cal.'”

Boum Jock, one of the stars of last year’s 8-5 Rams, transferred to Cal. Two of Jock’s 2024 CSU running mates, Gabe Kirschke and Nuer Gatkuoth, are now at Wake Forest. Chase Wilson, another ex-Rams linebacker, is now at West Virginia. Wideout Caleb Goodie? Cincinnati.

“If there was a phone call that came in tomorrow and it was interesting enough, I would entertain it,” Davis said of the coaching life. “It depends on where the phone call came from. And what they’re asking me to do.”

There’s only one Coach Prime. Call Collin. Before somebody else nabs him first.

“You don’t think Mike Shanahan wasn’t in those team meeting rooms telling us that we’re a Super Bowl team? Yes, he was,” Davis, the Broncos icon and Hall-of-Fame running back, told me earlier this week at Foothills Golf Course. “Now, if you say it, if some coaches say it, even the players don’t believe it, let’s be honest. When Sean says it? You listen.

“You believe what he’s telling you because he’s drawing from his experience. He’s seen what Super Bowl teams look like. So I’m taking a lot of stock when my coach says, ‘I’ve seen six or seven teams that were Super Bowl-contending teams. This is one of them.’ Man, I’m taking that to the bank.”

The problem isn’t saying the quiet part out loud. Did Payton have to scream it?

Shanahan writing it on a white board is one thing. is the sort of neon sign they can read from Prairie Village, Kan., to

Bo Nix, the Broncos’ second-year quarterback, got chucked into the deep end by Payton last fall. Paxton Lynch sank. Drew Lock and Brett Rypien were eaten by sharks. Nix swam Denver back to the playoffs for the first time since Peyton Manning retired.

Now, after just 18 NFL starts, you’re asking him to beat Michael Phelps to the other end of the pool and back?

“Bo’s not on the team by himself,” Davis countered. “Everybody’s on the team.

“You have to understand, (the ’90s Broncos) went three years where we were the hunted. Did we care about the pressure? Yeah, we knew there was pressure there. Pressure is an interesting word. Sometimes it’s self-produced. Sometimes it comes from the public. But you play a pro sport. Why wouldn’t you expect to win a Super Bowl? And it’s OK if people know that’s what your intentions are.

“Last I checked, the Chiefs were expecting to win the Super Bowl the last five, six years. I don’t see them folding and crumbling under the pressure.”

Sunshine Sean’s schtick reminds TD of the Broncos’ leap under Shanahan from 8-8 in 1995 to 13-3 in 1996. The rest is Mile High history: Davis, 52, helped John Elway carry Denver to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1997 and 1998. The California native ran for 1,750 yards and 15 scores for the 12-4 Broncos in 1997, then took home NFL MVP honors in ’98 after 2,008 regular-season rushing yards and 23 scores.

This past Monday, TD teamed up with a different legend, World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam,

Roughly 100 kids beat the heat to tee off with Davis and Sorenstam. “Golf with Us,” which aims to lower the barriers of entry via rounds priced at $5 or less, had more than 1,500 Colorado kids registered as of Tuesday.

“Golf and football mimic life,” Davis said. “And it’s the same things that I talk to my kids about. If you want to do something, there’s a certain amount of work you have to put in to get that.

“You also have to realize you’ve got to be resilient. Because when you go on that tee box, you tee off, you hit that ball, and then the first drive goes left and it’s out of bounds, you’ve got to be able to wipe all those thoughts out and be like, ‘I’ve got to reset. I can’t worry about that. I’ve got to be able to bounce back.’ It’s the same thing in sports, same thing in life. So it rewards those who bounce back quickly. That’s what golf is all about.”

Like golf, the shortest path in getting from good to great in the AFC West runs between the ears. Which is why TD thinks Payton’s madness could play out like a stroke of genius.

Those 10 wins last year might be banked in the hearts of ����apountry forever. To the rest of the league, they don’t carry over. You’re 0-0, baby. You need a new mission. A new mantra.

“I love the fact that (Payton) said that,” Davis said. “I love the fact, man. The difference between the team we had in ’95 and ’96 (was) the way we thought. Our mentality was the only thing that changed from the year before.”

In 17 years, Sean Payton has had three running backs eclipse 1,000 yards in a season. In two years in Denver, he has had zero running backs reach 100 yards in a game.

Yet, he holds the title of offensive wizard because of how effectively he uses them in the game plan.

“Running backs matter. Sean knows this,” said Phillip Lindsay, a former local prep, college and NFL football star and current co-host on 104.3 The Fan’s afternoon drive with Zac Bye. “You have Bo Nix, you have the tight end (Evan Engram). Now go get your running back. No excuses this year.”

Throw a dart and you will hit a mock draft with the Broncos taking Omarion Hampton, Quinshon Judkins or TreVeyon Henderson. This much is certain: The Broncos will select a running back in the draft.

It is about Payton selecting the right running back, one capable of breaking tackles and turning check-downs into first downs.

Only the ability to the win the AFC West is at stake.

That is why the first two rounds — the Broncos own picks 20 and 51 — remain critical to the Broncos’ future. Payton did the hard part last April, selecting Nix as his franchise quarterback. Now, go get the kid some help.

Remember the playoff game? The Broncos did not lose because of a huge chasm between Nix and Josh Allen. The difference was James Cook vs. Everybody Else.

Ending the Chiefs’ nine-year run of AFC West titles requires an explosive offense. Last year, Denver featured its most prolific attack in a decade. The Broncos were functional, but predictable because of an underachieving and underwhelming — take your pick — ground game.

Lindsay has lived it. He helped rejuvenate the Broncos in his first two seasons, before his role diminished, leaving his presence in the backfield a flashing neon sign that a run was coming.

It is hard to believe for a franchise that turned out Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, Reuben Droughns, Tatum Bell and Olandis Gary, but Lindsay is the last Bronco to rush for 1,000 yards.

He accomplished the feat in 2018 and 2019 with a “slow through, fast to” the hole style, aided by fullback Andy Janovich, that left him able to dart between the tackles and hit home runs on the outside.

Lindsay is watching this offseason intently, knowing how important solidifying the running back spot is to the Broncos taking the next step.

“Do I think the running backs did the greatest job last year? No, I do not. But it is also hard to get into a rhythm when you only get eight carries,” Lindsay said. “I don’t think Sean did a great job of scheming it up. There were no pulling guards, pulling tackles, counters, stuff like that. But he did amazing things with Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram (in New Orleans). He needs to get back to being creative.”

It starts with landing a back he trusts. Nobody feels like Picasso when turning knobs on an Etch-A-Sketch.  The Broncos run game was awful in multiple ways. While ESPN ranked the offensive line first in run blocking win rate, the Broncos were not efficient. Nix led Denver in rushing six times and tied Javonte Williams with four rushing touchdowns.

“You need a guy that Sean will use on second-and-4, and third-and-1,” Lindsay said. “A guy who can take pressure off Nix.”

Denver ranked 29th in yards after contact, with Williams’ 36th, Jaleel McLaughlin 46th and Audric Estime 51st, according to Fantasy Pros.

That won’t cut it.

Is it too much to ask a starting running back to unleash a stiff arm, run through an arm tackle and make a defender miss? Also, this player must have a diverse skillset. Why? No coordinator leans more heavily on early down passes to running backs than Payton.

Williams received a career-high 70 targets last season, catching 52 passes for 346 yards and 14 first downs. He did not reach the end zone. McLaughlin led the backs with two scores.

That won’t work.

Get the next Kamara, and this offense will produce like there is no tomorrow.  As a receiver, Kamara averaged four touchdowns and 30 first downs per season under Payton.

Lindsay has some names in mind.

“Hampton has a frame like Joe Mixon. He could definitely fit in Denver and be a guy capable of 1,000 yards rushing as a rookie,” Lindsay said. “And there are a couple in later rounds I really like. Kansas’ Devin Neal runs straight downhill, can get the dirty yards. And Kansas State’s DJ Giddens can give you the big play and has the right mentality.”

Finding a starter is a must, and it wouldn’t hurt to pair a rookie with a cheap veteran like J.K. Dobbins after the draft.

The running back is woven into so many layers of this offense. Find the guy, and Bo Nix’s ceiling becomes the top floor of the Empire State Building. Continue with a rotation of mediocrity and it will stunt his development.

In his third season, Payton is one piece away.

He hit the bull’s eye at quarterback. A dynamic runner is the only thing preventing the Broncos from passing the Chiefs next season.

“They’re playing well. Yeah. Playing really good,” Calhoun, the Aggies’ coach, told me courtside at Moby Arena after his 24-6 Utah State squad, which won at Saint Mary’s and beat Iowa in Kansas City, got pulverized by CSU, 93-66.

“They certainly got better defensively. They had a lot of transfers, like all of us … they’re a great team, well-coached. I have a ton of respect for them.”

Bracketologists? Not so much. The 20-9 Rams, winners of five straight and 10 of 12, aren’t even a widget on

Getting drilled in Boulder back in December by Tad Boyle’s worst-ever CU team left a mark. (against schools presumed to make the Big Dance) doesn’t help the argument.

But the last six weeks should. Saturday absolutely should. CSU drained 14 of 21 3-pointers against the NCAA tourney-bound Aggies on one end of the floor. On the other, they went out and held KenPom.com’s No. 15 offense in the country to 22 points in the first half and 66 points for the day.

“It kind of just felt like each game, we were slowly (realizing) like, ‘Wow, when we have our stretches where we’re really guarding, we’re a really good team,'” , an Iowa native who came off the bench to drain three of those 14 treys as part of an 18-point performance, noted with a grin.

“And then that has also just, speaking personally, given me so much confidence every single game. Because I know, regardless of how we play on offense, we’re going to have a chance to win, because we’re really defending people.”

Coach Niko Medved’s Rams (14-4 in conference) are getting grindy again, leapfrogging the Aggies (14-5) for sole possession of second place in the Mountain West on the strength of a defense that’s allowed 65 points or fewer in 12 of 18 league games.

“Considering the stakes of the game and it being March, I would say it was our best performance of the year,” Medved said. “The energy in the first part of the game was just palpable.”

Jaylen Crocker-Johnson’s second trey of the first half gave the hosts a 15-2 lead five minutes into the contest. From there, it was a parade of daggers. An 18-4 Rammies lead begat 28-10, which begat a Born trey and a 33-10 cushion. CSU drained eight of 10 from beyond the arc over the first 20 minutes, effectively sealing the deal before halftime.

“We owed them one,” said senior wing Nique Clifford, whose 26 points and nine assists paced the Rams. “We didn’t come out and play a full 40-minute game when we were up there … we were really locked in defensively. And that’s why it showed on the court (Saturday).”

Everybody’s having a good time at Moby these days. Students got a free pizza slice for turning up. Next Tuesday’s home finale vs. San Jose State will be “Dollar Beer Night.” Broncos icon Terrell Davis, CSU’s proud “Rambassador,” got on the jumbotron early to help raise the roof.

“Just a really good dude,” Clifford said of TD. “He has really great advice … I just like getting to talk to people like that who are well-respected. And like I said, he’s a legend around here.”

He’s not the only one. Clifford’s always had these little NBA moments, NBA flashes, both at CU and in FoCo. They come more frequently now, with the Colorado Springs native inheriting Medved’s time-to-take-over-now button from departed point guard Isaiah Stevens. He doesn’t shoot triples like No. 4, granted, but the moments of individual brilliance are far more spectacular.

With 5:04 left until halftime, Clifford swatted a 3-point attempt out of the air and started a run-out the other way, one that culminated in a Crocker-Johnson putback and a 39-15 CSU lead.

But The Nique Show might’ve saved its best highlight until there was 3:32 left on the clock. Clifford set up with ball along the left corner of the arc, pump faked from three, saw a lane open up and dribbled the baseline all the way to the hoop. Then it got funky. The CSU wing stretched high to the glass, almost parallel to the hoop, the way a young Julius Erving did in his ABA days, before slamming the ball home with one hand.

From Clifford to Crocker-Johnson (18 points) and Born, this is a heck of a fun team to watch when they’re flying. Since Christmas, once Medved figured out his rotations and Kyan Evans (15 points) found his stroke, everything started to click, piece by piece.

“The biggest thing for us is just the improvements that we’ve made,” Born said. “Early on, we had some guys that were injured. Rashaan (Mbemba) wasn’t playing. And I think in terms of our identity, he plays a big part in that as well — he just asserts himself in the game. He makes a difference. There are some really good teams in the league, and we’re right there with them … we’re a confident group. And we’re really talented on defense and really talented on offense.”

At-large cases are built on sexy wins, especially away from home. Sadly, the Rams’ resume could still use a few more. The NCAA’s NET ranking, the new holy criterion for the selection committee, favors teams that stack up Quad 1 games and Quad 1 victories. To get the latter, you need to beat a top 30 NET team at home, a top 50 NET team on a neutral floor, or a top 75 team on the road.

CSU went into Saturday’s game with six Quad 1 games, which is kinda “mid,” as the cool kids say, and a very sub-mid 1-5 record in those contests. Yet Calhoun’s Aggies turned up at FoCo with a 34 NET ranking, which just misses the Quad 1 cut-off, and got their collective tails handed to them.

The Rams close out the regular season March 7 at Boise State, which sported a 43 NET ranking heading into the weekend. On one hand, CSU probably has to sweep the Spartans at home and Broncos away to seriously enter the Big Dance convo nationally.

On the other hand, it means their fate is in their hands. And those hands have been laying absolute haymakers lately.

“I mean, would you want to play you guys right now?” I asked Born.

“I would not,” the Rams guard replied. He paused, looked up at the scoreboard and grinned again. “I would not.”

They reached the playoffs in 2024. They found their guy in Bo Nix. They are hanging with the cool kids again, possessing a quarterback on a rookie deal as they emerge from salary cap hades.

But they must get a tight end and running back who can take the pressure off Nix or prepare to fade back into the darkness. Sean Payton needs his “joker.” We get it.

The question is who?

For the first time since Payton took over in 2023, he appears serious about addressing the void. After selling us on Adam Trautman and Company and Javonte Williams and Crew, I need to see it.

Payton earned trust with the selection of Nix. But his misplaced loyalty at tight end and blind spot at running back prevent him from getting the benefit of the doubt in this case. Like his team, he has to continue to prove it.

He has acknowledged the problem. However, if this ends with Payton converting Lil’Jordan Humphrey to tight end, then consider me pranked. If Williams starts at running back in the opener, then call my emergency contact.

Shopping off the clearance rack won’t work. The Broncos need bonafide threats to bring out the best in Nix. My working theory is that they have four candidates for the 20th pick — tight ends Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland and running backs Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton — and will only go another direction if they are off the board.

Let’s start at tight end. Over the last decade, the Chiefs have had the football equivalent ofLuka Doncic. The Broncos have had Hookah Doncic.

Payton needs his Jimmy Graham. But again, who?

There are interesting options. Former Broncos tight end and Big Ten analyst Jake Butt saw two of them up close and personal.

“I know Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland. Colston is a technician. You look at how Travis Kelce is always open. That����ap just feel. Colston has that,” Butt said. “Tyler is more of a Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) type. You are taking him with a different vision in mind. He’s great after the catch. A better blocker. A bigger body. I know the last time the Broncos drafted a tight end at 20 they took Noah Fant. He was a rare athlete. But, I think these guys are more polished and leaps and bounds ahead of him.”

No one I have talked to at the NFL combine this week believes Warren will be available at the Broncos’ 20th pick. Or that Denver would have the appetite to trade up. But…

“If he is there, Denver should run to the podium and hand in the card,” NBC analyst Chris Simms said Wednesday.

Added Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 champion Ryan Harris, “I like Colston, but he hasn’t been the focus of an offense. If you are going tight end, go get Miami’s (13th pick) and get Warren.”

Warren is a better player. Colston is a better fit. Colston, surgically repaired right shoulder willing, runs routes like a slot receiver, and wins in the middle of the field. That is exactly what Nix needs as he becomes more confident in the pocket.

Think about what Graham did for Drew Brees. In five seasons in New Orleans, he averaged 84 receptions, 1,036 yards and 11 touchdowns.

“Tight end is an obvious choice. It is a quarterback’s best friend,” The Athletic’s Michael Silver said. “I think of Sean with Jimmy Graham. What a weapon he was. Such a big part of the offense.”

The Broncos tight end leaders the past two seasons have averaged 20 catches for 196 yards and three touchdowns. Shannon Sharpe used to burp out those numbers.

It was equally discouraging at running back, where Williams, an all-time good guy and great comeback story, has averaged 644 yards and three touchdowns on 3.6 yards per carry over the past two years.

The Broncos believe their offensive line is a team strength. There is no excuse for the run game to be this ineffective. Jeanty or Hampton would provide a boost. Jeanty can change a game as a runner, receiver and pass protector. Hampton is physical with breakaway speed.

“You can’t have 12-play, 75-yard drives against good teams consistently,” Simms said. “You need a guy who can pop a run or take a slant 60 yards to take the pressure off the quarterback.”

Payton knows this. For 15 years in New Orleans he led a prolific offense. So don’t fill up at the pump with unleaded and pass it off as nitromethane.

No one is going to confuse Nix with John Elway. But remember Elway never won a Super Bowl until Sharpe replaced Clarence Kay and Terrell Davis succeeded Leonard Russell.

Payton needs a joker. So does Nix.

One of those four — Warren, Loveland, Jeanty or Hampton — must be the guy. If not, the question of “Who?” will remain a tread-bare Abbott and Costello skit.

As a freshman at Penn State, Barkley, eager to climb the depth chart, watched intently as his position coach Charles Huff pushed play on the remote before practice.

“That is the first time I saw Terrell Davis. Coach Huff showed us a video, and it wasn’t him running the ball, but how he made his first team in Denver. The clip was him racing down the field and making a big tackle on special teams,” Barkley told The Denver Post.

“That gave me the understanding of how you have to capitalize on every opportunity you get. So every time I took the ball, I tried to remember that, tried to make my presence felt.”

Barkley remains connected to the Hall of Famer all these years later. He needs 30 yards in Super Bowl LIX to break Davis’ single-season rushing record of 2,476, combining the regular season and playoffs.

“He will break it,” Davis said of his mark set in 1998. “It����ap pretty cool. I can live with that.”

The fact that Barkley ties back to the Broncos remains as interesting as it is incongruous. This season eight of the 12 best rushing teams reached the postseason, including the top six.

The running back revival is real. Except in Denver.

Sean Payton has changed the culture and the results, but one thing remains the same: his wandering eye with running backs, which reveals his whims about the position and where his priorities should be this offseason.

Inside the Broncos building, they talk about the climb. The 10-8 record and playoff berth represented a critical first step. But to make a giant leap in 2025, they don’t need Neil Armstrong. They need a stronger run game, a better lead back, and carries spread across fewer players.

Want to beat good teams? Beat them up, impose your will on occasion.

“Unless Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes is your quarterback, you need a good running back,” said former Saints and Ravens bruiser Mark Ingram. “It����ap that simple.”

The focus on Barkley this week helps shed light on a Broncos issue that has frustrated fans for the past two seasons: What is Payton’s fascination with using a battery of backs?

It has not worked in Denver. And it must be tweaked if the Broncos want quarterback Bo Nix to reach his potential.

Last season the Broncos ranked 16th in rushing yards per game (112.2) and 21st in yards per carry (4.1). And they haven’t had a player reach 100 rush yards in a single game in Payton’s two seasons, a streak spanning 35 games.

A strong case can be made that Javonte Williams was the league’s most ineffective starter, a fact that seemed obvious to everyone but Payton who valued his experience and pass protection. Williams, who likely won’t return as a free agent, ranked 42nd in the league with 513 yards, behind five quarterbacks (Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray and Josh Allen). It represents the lowest total ever for Payton’s leading rusher in his 17 seasons.

The Broncos fashion themselves as a threat to the Chiefs. Spoiler alert: They won’t be without a more effective lead back and an improved running attack. Part of the solution is calling more designed runs for Nix now that Payton knows what he has in the kid’s legs. But the Broncos are not winning the AFC West without a rusher flirting with 1,000 yards.

It only takes 58.8 yards per game. Not exactly a triumph worthy of trumpets blaring.

Williams isn’t the answer. Neither is Jaleel McLaughlin. Would Audric Estime be? Hard to feel great about his future after he was a healthy scratch against Buffalo. What about Tyler Badie? Maybe? Probably not.

When the Bills stomped the Broncos in the playoffs, it drove home a revealing trend. Many of the best offenses and top contenders employ dynamic backs of all flavors. Buffalo’s James Cook ran around the Broncos. The Ravens featured Derrick Henry, a human diesel who racked up 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns. The Packers leaned into the power of Josh Jacobs, Minnesota exploited Aaron Jones’ versatility and the Lions (Jahmyr Gibbs) and Rams (Kyren Williams) relied on pop and patience.

And, of course, there was Barkley and his 2,005 yards.

“Running backs never left,” said LenDale White, a former NFL standout and one of the greatest prep backs in Colorado history. “We get devalued. I mean what the ‘F’ were the Giants doing letting Saquon walk out the building? You see how important running the ball is.”

If ����apountry wanted to see a big play the last two years, they might as well have recorded Macbeth. The Broncos had one run of over 40 yards last season. Six times Nix led the team in rushing, and he tied Williams for the most touchdowns with four.

This says a lot about Nix’s athleticism and even more about the need to help him. But it will require Payton to deny his own DNA. It is not uncommon for him to use three backs, so it should come as no surprise only two players have eclipsed the century mark on the ground under Payton – Deuce McAllister (1,057 in 2006) and Ingram (1,043 in 2016 and 1,124 in 2017).

He is working with a young franchise quarterback, not Drew Brees. Balance is required. Payton knows the team must upgrade at running back and tight end. Those are the two positions where he seeks hybrid players who can be effective in the run and pass game.

It made sense when he had Reggie Bush, Darren Sproles, Jeremy Shockey and Jimmy Graham. They were some of the most athletic and gifted players in the league. The current Broncos offense has nobody like them.

Payton needs to trust his instincts on the basics and nail another draft. Find a sturdy back with explosiveness and vision. Get a tight end who can turn the middle of the field into an advantage, not a soul-sucking vacuum.

The next Barkley in the backfield would be nice. But he’s not available (sorry Ashton Jeanty stans).

“It is difficult to find someone with Saquon’s skillset,” Hall of Famer Barry Sanders said. “But the way he performed this season, he made a big statement for running backs.”

In 1998, Davis joined Emmitt Smith as the only player to lead the league in rushing and win a Super Bowl. Barkley could soon join him.

“To be able to be here now and have a year where I am mentioned with a Hall of Famer like him is special,” Barkley said.

Kansas City has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 18 straight games or in the playoffs since 2019. Watch Barkley give them fits. Then you’ll understand why the Broncos need to follow in his footsteps.