ENGLEWOOD, Colo — Not until two days before the Broncos’ season-opener Sept. 8 at Seattle will rookie running back Audric Estime turn 21 years old.
Youth should be on his side as he recovers from a knee procedure that will keep him out from the final two weeks of the Broncos’ offseason program.
Estime suffered the injury during the Broncos’ third OTA on May 23, giving him two full months and a couple of days to recover by the start of training camp.
With Estime out, Javonte Williams will get a greater opportunity to reassert himself. The Broncos know they cannot begin 2024 with how their No. 1 running back finished 2023.
Bouncing back from a horrific ACL injury suffered four games into the 2022 season when Raiders’ star Maxx Crosby drove him into the turf from the head down, Williams had his best games just before and after the bye week last year. He rushed for a combined 134 yards on 25 carries in wins against the Chiefs and Packers for 5.4 yards per carry.
But Williams never topped 3.9 yards a carry in any of the Broncos’ final 10 games. In the final four games, Williams rushed for only 124 yards combined on 2.6 yards per carry.
It seemed not the ACL but the yearlong grind of rehabilitating his injury that wore down Williams’ legs in the second half of last season. Another year removed from the injury, at the still young age of 24, should make for a better Javonte.
“He’s been looking good,’’ said head coach Sean Payton. “I think historically speaking, when you talk to the experts, they say that the complete heal finishes at two years. Obviously, you begin playing before then, but he’s been doing well. He’s in shape. I know that he’s looking forward to it.
“The challenge last year was really when you think about it, even in training camp, it was still early enough in the process where it was hard for him to go full speed with confidence," Payton said. "And yet we were building and getting him where we all felt comfortable, he could play. I think he’s looking forward to this year, and certainly the confidence in his health and the strength in his knee.”
At this point in the offseason, when there’s no pads or tackling, it’s difficult to evaluate Williams or any of the Broncos’ other five running backs: Estime, Samaje Perine, Jaleel McLaughlin, Blake Watson and Tyler Badie.
McLaughlin, Watson and Badie have shown the most burst – as smaller backs always do when practice is in shorts and T-shirts.
The competition for the season-opening three running backs on the Broncos’ 53-man roster appears to be wide open. Here are some, but not all, of the many trio combination options the Broncos may settle on by the first week of September:
The Incumbents: Williams, Perine, McLaughlin
Even if each of the three has decent odds to make the team, keeping all three together would be the least likely combination as this trio wasn’t good enough in overall production. The Broncos ranked 18th in rushing, tied for 21st with 4.0 yards per carry and tied for 28th with just eight rushing touchdowns.
Williams was the lead back, Perine the third-down pass-down back and McLaughlin the change-of-pace back.
The Kids: Estime, Watson, McLaughlin
Wouldn’t this be something. Watson, a 24-year-old undrafted rookie, would be the oldest of this proposed group, as McLaughlin doesn’t turn 24 until Week 2 of the regular season.
While Watson and McLaughlin may seem like similar backs – both are fast but smallish at under 5-10 and less than 200 – Watson may be able to fill the receiving role as he had 90 catches combined the past two seasons at Old Dominion and Memphis.
The Powerful: Estime, Williams, Perine
There may be too much power and not enough top-end speed from this group, but the Broncos shouldn’t have trouble picking up third-and-shorts.
The Electric: McLaughlin, Watson, Badie
Speed, speed and more speed. Again, not likely as there’s not a bell cow in the group. But perhaps Payton can set up a three-back rotation where they each get 8-10 carries and 2-3 catches per game. And let 6-2 1/2, 217-pound quarterback Bo Nix pick up the third-and-shorts. (No chance, granted, but having some fun here.)
Because many of these backs are interchangeable, it’s not quite as simple as saying the competitions are between Williams and Estime for No. 1; Perine and Watson for No. 2; and McLaughlin, Watson and Badie for No. 3.
And as Estime’s knee procedure reminds, injuries are often factors in deciding running back competitions. Still, running back will be one of the most intriguing position battles in camp, along with Bo vs. Bo at quarterback and Riley Dixon vs. Trenton Gill at punter.
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