Denver Broncos: Analyzing the 53-man roster and needs

RUNNING BACK

Made Roster: C.J. Anderson, Devontae Booker, Kapri Bibbs, Andy Janovich (FB)

John Elway made the decision to release last year’s leading rusher — Ronnie Hillman — in favor of Kapri Bibbs, the former Colorado State star who has been on and off the team’s preseason since 2014. He put the decision to release Hillman better than I can:

“At running back, obviously Ronnie was a guy that did a lot of good things for us. We just thought that with [RB] Kapri [Bibbs] we were probably in better shape with what he can do on special teams. It’s always tough. They’re all close. That one was really close. Kapri has worked very hard and deserved a shot. We’re going to give Kapri that shot.”

This is particularly interesting as Hillman was part of the Broncos’ 2012 draft class that included some really good players. He was a third round pick that Elway traded up for, and he wound up playing a pretty major role on this team over the last two seasons.

That being said, Hillman had a habit of making major errors in games at the worst possible moments, most notably his lack of effort on a backward pass in the AFC Championship game that was picked up by the New England Patriots. He was benched much of the Super Bowl, and the Broncos deemed him expendable after the best regular season of his career.

This is as much about Bibbs winning a spot as it is Hillman losing one, and like Elway said, it came down to special teams. Bibbs has proven his worth there and could be a valuable reserve back for this squad.

Next: Wide Receiver