Fantasy Football Collective

As a graphic during this week's Monday Night Football broadcast illustrated, the Denver Broncos under head coach Mike Shanahan produced a 1,000 yard rusher for every year except one since Shanahan took over in 1995. Having John Elway in the early years probably helped, but Shanahan also got a lot of mileage out of current NFL drifters Clinton Portis and Tatum Bell in the early 2000's, when the Broncos were quarterbacked by the far less intimidating Brian Griese.

This year, the Broncos' come off a well-publicized losing season in 2007, due in large part to quarterback Jay Cutler's undiagnosed case of diabetes, and an offensive line that, at its lowest point, let the Detroit Lions' defense in for a surprise sack party in a 44-7 rout in Week 9.

Now, with two running backs and two fullbacks all seeing carries and scoring points in game one on Monday, the temptation exists to write off the Denver backfield as too decentralized to be trusted. Why start Selvin Young as either an RB1 or RB2 when he might lack the strength for short-yardage situations in the red-zone, situations that might be decided in favor of Cutler's abilities on a play-fake scramble-and-throw? Why go with Andre Hall as an RB2 when he may see less touches overall, lacks breakaway speed, might only be used for clock-killing drives, and will lose touches to the fullbacks because of his virtual physical similarity?

Before we decide on that situation, lets quickly examine Denver's playcalling in week one. Shanahan and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison seem to trust  Selvin Young's ability to bounce outside and pick up yards in space. The former undrafted free agent and frontrunner of the RB depth chart was the recipient of several toss plays and off-tackle runs throughout the game, and picked up solid 3-5 yard gains on each. Against teams with a secondary weaker at tackling, Young might be able to use his speed for huge gains up the sideline.

Michael Pittman and Hall were also tested from side-to-side, and both Young and Pittman found success up the middle for touchdowns late in the fourth quarter. Pittman is listed on the depth chart as a fullback behind Peyton Hillis, who will probably be used as a reliable, bruising runner on short-yardage situations outside of the red zone and clock-killing drives (though late in the game the Broncos were still able to score on these drives, courtesy of some hideous Oakland personal fouls).

Additionally, Cutler hung 300 yards on the 8th best returning passing defense - a unit which was supposed to be better after the offseason addition of Deangelo Hall - and he sure looked like he enjoyed it. The more teams have to respect Cutler downfield, the more the running game will open up between and outside the tackles, especially with the Broncos reliance on the play action and Cutler's rocket arm continually forcing defenses to rely on zone coverage.

So if any Denver running backs are floating around in your league's free agency or languishing on the bench, the answer is, in fact, to pick and play someone. The Denver Broncos' offense has, with the exception of the 2007 season, consistently finished somewhere in the top ten in total yards gained and points scored every season, and Monday's game, to me, meant one thing: through excellent playcalling, Cutler and his stable of rushing talent are going to score a ton of points this year.  Mike Shanahan would love to hang 41 points on each and every team in the AFC West and silence all critics who put him anywhere near the words "hot" and "seat". And after how San Diego's pass defense looked against the Panthers and Jake Delhomme, and Kansas City's "rebuilding decade", there is reason to believe Denver can do just that, passing and rushing. With Cutler's return to full health and a load of offensive weapons - week one breakout Eddie Royal and Brandon Marshall, whose three game suspension was appealed down to one game, might well be the best recieving tandem in the division - the Broncos offense is a sure bet to remain as explosive as they've been in the past.

Thus, to dismiss the Broncos' backfield as too populous to produce a thousand-yard rusher is to be caught looking for the wrong stat. Don't miss out on two solid RB2 options in Hall and Young (and a flex option in either fullback) who will score a lot this year. And who knows? Either back might put up 1,000 yards or more; deciding which really depends on your personal preference for runs between the tackles versus runs in space.

When the final whistle blew, Hall had three more carries than Young and 25 more total yards, and Cutler's 300 yard performance was in the spotlight here out west. But stop asking about yards - touchdowns look so good and count for so much more.

Author - Bryan Kelly
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