WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Since you’re asking, Tyler Badie can’t become the Broncos’ No. 1 running back when he’s not even on their 53-man roster.
The Broncos may be the NFL’s only team whose top rushing running back through the third week of the season is a practice squad player. Bo Nix is Denver’s leading rusher with 107 yards, but he’s a quarterback who defenses more or less don’t account for – although they’re beginning to.
Among Broncos’ running backs, Badie leads with 86 yards on just 10 carries. Javonte Williams is a distant second with 52 yards on 24 carries. Then it’s Jaleel McLaughlin with just 40 yards on 18 carries.
“Yeah, look, I’m used to – right, wrong or indifferent – it’s easy to work two backs into a rotation; it’s hard with three,'' said Broncos' head coach Sean Payton after the Broncos' 26-7 win Sunday at Tampa Bay. "It’s hard to feed three. He’d been practicing well. There were a handful of – ‘Bad 21,’ we just abbreviate his tags B.A.D… ‘Bad 12’ – there were a handful of plays designed with his name on it and then he’s running well and so he gets some more plays, but we’ll keep working that combination.”
In recent days, Badie clarified the proper pronunciation of his surname. Instead of BAY-dee, as he answered to during his college days at Missouri and how it’s listed in the Broncos’ media guide’s pronunciation page, he recently talked it over with his family who told him it should be Bah-DAY. Now that he’s making a name for himself, it’s good to get it right.
Badie doesn’t figure to be on the Broncos’ practice squad for much longer. He’s been elevated to the game-day roster each of the past two weeks and team can only use three practice squad elevations in a season. After that, a team can’t use that player unless he’s been promoted to the active 53-man roster.
The Broncos have two other rookie running backs on their 53-man roster who they are not using. Fifth-round pick Audric Estime had two carries for 14 yards in the season-opener at Seattle, but suffered an ankle injury that placed him on four-week injured reserve. Undrafted rookie Blake Watson has been inactive through the Broncos’ first three games.
Against the Steelers two weeks ago, Badie had one carry for 16 yards. Javonte Williams, the Broncos’ No. 1 back, had 17 yards on 11 carries.
This past Sunday at Tampa Bay, Badie led all Broncos’ running backs with 70 yards on 9 carries, with 43 coming on an early fourth quarter run.
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