Broncos Draft Insight: Running Backs

Wait, we already have a great combo of running backs, right McDaniels? That’s what we’ve been told of Correll Buckhalter and Knowshon Moreno. Not to mention, the Broncos signed J.J. Arrington again after letting him go last year.

Moreno will without a doubt be a great back in this league. Buckhalter is getting older and saw limited action in some games because of injury. Arrington still hasn’t proved anything in this league. Thus, the Broncos will bring in one running back via the draft. Filling the position is not high on their priority list, but I’m certain young legs will be brought in to compete for some playing time.

Jeff Legwold of the Denver Post says that Toby Gerhart (Stanford) and Montario Hardesty (Tennessee) will be visiting the Broncos in the weeks before the draft.

Gerhart is a scoring machine in red zone territory. Legwold says:

"“Gerhart was the Doak Walker Award winner last season after rushing for 1,871 yards. Following a 1,176-yard rushing season in 2008, he became just the second player in Stanford history to gain 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. Gerhart is a closer with the goal line in sight, having scored at least one touchdown in 18 of the last 20 games he played in his Stanford career. He had at least two touchdowns rushing in 14 games and at least three touchdowns in six games” (Denver Post)."

Hardesty is more of a speedster than Gerhart. Although Hardesty was plagued by multiple injuries during his college career, Legwold says,

"“When healthy, [Hardesty] finishes runs well and runs with an edge…he has plenty of explosiveness with the ball in his hands.”"

Hardesty had his only “healthy” year last year when he had 1,345 yards on the ground. Still, he needed to have his knee drained during the season.

It’s obvious that Gerhart looks to be the better option, but the Broncos would probably need to use a 2nd round draft pick to get him.

With that said, here are the highlight videos of the two backs mentioned above so you can see them in action.

I’ll be out of town for the next few days, so the posts may be more sporadic. Stay tuned in!