Jeremiah Johnson runs with the ball during the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers. (Chris Humphreys-US PRESSWIRE)

In the tale of the Denver Broncos running backs, it came down to this:

Willis McGahee locked in his starting role after last season’s 1,199 yard rushing season. Rookie Ronnie Hillman locked in his backup role when he was selected in the third round of the draft (67th overall), and rushed for 97 yards on 24 carries (4.04 yards per carry) in two preseason games. Fullback Chris Gronkowski had his spot locked in simply by being another solid blocker on the team.

That left Knowshon Moreno and Jeremiah Johnson on the fringe heading into Thursday’s final preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Moreno has been making strides since his surgery to repair a torn ACL last year. He rushed 18 times for 84 yards, and put his best performance out there on Thursday with 49 yards on 7 carries in one half of play.

Johnson has been the ultimate practice squad player. The former Oregon Duck was signed to the practice squad in December of 2010, and released on September 3, 2011. He was re-signed a day later and made it onto the active roster on September 16. He was released again on September 20, 2011 only to be re-signed two days later. Then when Moreno tore his ACL in November, Johnson made his way up the depth chart into the No. 3 back role behind McGahee and Lance Ball. In 8 games last season, Johnson had 14 carries for 77 yards (5.5 yards per carry), and 7 receptions for 62 yards.

It was Moreno vs. Johnson when the Broncos coaching staff met on Friday to trim their roster to 53 players.

“Knowshon had a great camp, and he came in and we obviously had to start him slow with that knee because of that knee surgery in the off season,” John Elway said. “Jeremiah played well too, but when you look at the full package, we were excited about where Knowshon was and how we ran the ball and continued to get better throughout camp. He’s carrying more weight, the knee has come back strong. He’s a first down guy as well as a third down guy that does a good job with third down. That’s one of those tough decisions, but Knowshon probably makes us a better football team.”

That doesn’t mean that Johnson won’t make the Broncos a better football team. He was signed to the practice squad Saturday along with six other men: DE Ben Garland, S Duke Ihenacho, TE Cornelius Ingram, WR Greg Orton, DT Sealver Siliga, and Wayne Tribue.

So Moreno will get one more shot, and you can bet this will be his last one. If he plays with the same intensity and focus as he had against the Cardinals, he should be in good shape, and so should the Broncos’ rushing game. If not, Johnson is just one step away from playing on game day.

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Aug 9, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) under center against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. (Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE)

If you found yourself researching a running back named Xavier Omon after the Denver Broncos preseason game against the Bears last week, you were not alone. There was no shortage of stars during the Broncos 31-3 demolition of Chicago, but several players stood out and made names for themselves. Omon carried the ball 7 times for 36 yards and a touchdown. He finished with an average of 5.1 yards-per-carry and caught one ball out of the backfield. He ran with the authority and toughness that NFL fans love to see and it will be interesting to find out if he can keep it up when he plays against some better competition.

The running back battle was one of the deepest and most competitive camp battles going in Denver, and that was before we were forced to take notice of Omon. The Broncos will most likely carry 4 or 5 running backs depending on how things shake out. With Willis McGahee and Ronnie Hillman locks to make the final roster, and Chris Gronkowski the likely starting fullback, there are possibly 2 roster spots available for other running backs. Lance Ball, Knowshon Moreno, Jeremiah Johnson, and Omon have all shown that they have their sights set on one of those spots, and it’s going to be the camp battle to watch the rest of the way.

Here are some other observations from the Broncos first preseason game of 2012:

• Denver’s electrifying performance did nothing to temper the excitement of fans in Broncos Country. It’s easy to overstate things after a single preseason game, but Denver came to play across the board and looks like a team with the talent to make some serious noise in 2012.
• A lot of draft day doubters feel much better today after watching Derek Wolfe completely destroy the Bears’ offensive front. He finished with 3 solo tackles, 2 sacks, and 1 tackle for loss in his Denver debut. If he can play with that kind of presence consistently the defense will be in great shape going forward.
• Peyton Manning’s only series of the game had some mixed results, but that should have been expected considering it was his first real game action in a year and a half. He ended up going 4/7 for 44-yards passing and an interception on the goal line after a deflection. Despite the ending, the first drive of the game was beautiful. 5:39 came off the clock in 11 plays and it went for 50 yards. The highlight of the drive was a 19-yard completion to Eric Decker for a first down conversion on 3rd-and-17. Manning still has some rust to shake off, but it looks like the Denver offense is going to be a lot of fun to watch with Manning at the helm.
• All four quarterbacks showed some flashes against Chicago. Brock Osweiler and Adam Weber both threw for a score and Caleb Hanie made some nice throws after a rough couple of series. Hanie is getting the reps with the second team for now, but it would surprise me if Osweiler doesn’t move into that position soon.
• The defense as a whole played with tenacity and tackled very well, and it looks like Jack Del Rio has already made an impact. Some youngsters like Mike Mohamed and Nate Irving made some nice plays in space and will get some praise in the film room.
• Tight end Cornelius Ingram is another lesser known player who turned some heads last week. He caught two passes for 45 yards including a 25-yard touchdown reception from Weber. The tight end position is another one with a logjam of players, but Ingram could sneak in there and take a roster spot. Keep an eye on him.
• One of the most underrated things coming out of the Bears game was that the Broncos escaped relatively injury free. The preseason is always a nerve-racking time in regards to injuries, and the injury bug has already seriously bitten some other teams around the league. Hopefully this will be a trend for Denver during the preseason.
• The first preseason game at home will be against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday, August 18th. I’m sure the atmosphere at Mile High will be electric and Broncos Country will be soaking up every moment. Hit me up on Twitter so we can break it down in real time. Go Broncos!

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Knowshon Moreno makes a miraculous leap over a Chiefs defender. (Ben Hays/Denver Broncos)

It’s no secret that Knowshon Moreno is injury prone. He’s been hampered with injuries here and there during training camps and during the regular season.

No injury, however, has kept Moreno out as long as his current one will. It was announced today that Moreno’s “mild knee sprain” is actually a torn ACL. His name will be added to the IR as he prepares to undergo surgery and months of rehabilitation.

Moreno was injured in the first quarter of the Broncos game against the Chiefs. Willis McGahee went down with a hamstring injury which forced Moreno to carry a lot of the load. Moreno, more accustomed to being the team’s third down back, was on pace for his best game of the season when he broke off for a 24-yard and 22-yard run, including a picture perfect leap over a Chiefs’ defender to pick up more yards along the sideline.

Moreno was a highly touted back in college and appealed to Josh McDaniels enough for the fired McCoach to draft him 12th overall in 2009. His production has been anything but first round worthy.

His best year came in his rookie year when he  had 947 yards on the year and 7 touchdowns. He also added 2 receiving touchdowns.
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