ENGLEWOOD – Vance Joseph believes in youth.
The Broncos’ head coach is well aware he has the least experienced running back group in the NFL.
“Absolutely I do,’’ he said.
And yet he couldn’t be happier.
“I like ‘em young,’’ Joseph said in an interview Friday with 9News. “Young means healthy. Young means compliant. Young means open-minded. Young means he can go for a long time.’’
The Broncos’ most experienced backs are Devontae Booker and fullback Andy Janovich, who each played limited snaps in their first two seasons. Then it’s De’Angelo Anderson, who played the final quarter or so of the last game last season.
Then it’s three rookies – third-round pick Royce Freeman, who will compete with Booker for the starting tailback position, David Williams and Phillip Lindsay.
Yet, Joseph offers that running back is the one position where inexperience can be an advantage.
“There’s been numerous examples in the last five years with rookie running backs hitting the stage and taking off,’’ he said. “We had one in K.C. last year (Kareem Hunt). We had one in Jacksonville (Leonard Fournette). They year before we had a couple guys who have taken off (Ezekiel Elliott and Jordan Howard).
“So that position allows for a young guy to play. It’s really a physically gifted position. The pass protection part, that’s the part they have to learn but carrying the football, that’s a gift. And you have to be healthy and hungry to carry the ball in this league at a high level so I am not worried about that position at all. We have five guys that are awfully talented.’’
Running back isn’t the only position where rookies are going to play for the Broncos. In recent years, when the Broncos went into training camp with Super Bowl-caliber rosters, there wasn’t much room for more than one or two rookies to break in.
That’s not the case this year. This is a 5-11 team with spots available for the rookies.
“Yeah, we need them to stop up,’’ said John Elway, the Broncos’ general manager. “Especially with the way the roster’s made up and where we are, we need some of these young guys to step up.
“It is funny, we were talking about it earlier and there’s always issues with the roster. You’re thin here or heavy here -- it’s always trying to find the right mix with all the positions.
“But this year and the quality of the draft picks we did have, we think a lot of them can come in and help us early.’’
