Denver Broncos: Javonte Williams is a human bulldozer

The Denver Broncos added to their backfield with a human bulldozer who gives the team a dynamic duo early on.

Melvin Gordon’s future is in doubt after the 2021 season, but let’s not forget his end of the year in 2020. Gordon arguably became the entirety of the Denver Broncos offense once the team found its identity.

However, with a deep running back class in 2021 and a new general manager in the building, the future for Gordon remains unclear. Gordon mentioned in the offseason how he hates being overlooked and Denver’s move in the draft this year won’t change that.

Denver made a surprising move to leapfrog the Miami Dolphins to select Javonte Williams out of North Carolina. Williams is one of the better backs in this year’s draft and should have been lumped in the conversation with Najee Harris and Travis Etienne.

Williams is more than capable of the top back in this class. One of the strongest differences between Williams and other backs was an enormous workload. In his span as a Tar Heel, Williams notched just under 400 carries. He remains fresh coming into the NFL which had been unfortunate luck with Denver’s past history.

Montee Ball and Royce Freeman both came to Denver with a huge workload and tread on the tires. Both racked up numerous carries and amazing production becoming one of NCAA’s best collegiate running backs.

Freeman is still on the Broncos roster but with the number of injuries he’s sustained, his future also remains up in the air. On the other hand, Williams has zero tread on the tires and no current injury concerns. Everything is trending in a direction with Williams to where he could be set up for long-term success going forward.

Looking at Williams’ talent as a player it is easy to see the Broncos’ aggressiveness to draft him on day two of the draft. Williams is a human bulldozer who plays like a linebacker at running back.

Defenders bounce off him like a true pinball machine. He compares very favorably to Nick Chubb coming out of college.

In no way will Williams become Chubb, but the traits are similar. Williams excels as an inside zone back who can run in between the tackles and the outside. It seems easy for Williams to get to the second level due to his brute strength to run with evil intentions every run.

This translates to him being very difficult to bring down. Only Williams and Harris had 70+ missed tackles forced.

Two particular runs depict this vividly. His runs against Miami and Duke. Against Duke, Williams had four defenders near him at the 15-20 yard line in the red zone. All four missed the tackle, causing Williams to score the touchdown.

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In the run versus Miami, Williams did not score but had plenty of speed to reach the second level and knock a player on his back. Immediately after he blew the defender up, Williams managed to gain 10-15 more yards. He’s a frightening player to bring down.

The two other aspects of Williams’ game make him darn near complete as a prospect. Due to Williams’s linebacker persona as a running back, he is very good in his pass protection. Williams makes his presence felt for defenders in pass pro.

One of the strongest areas of need to show completion is his strength in pass protection. The other is pass-catching. Williams joins Gordon as one of the better pass-catchers out of the backfield on the Broncos. This should make for a difficult task for defenses to prepare.

Gordon’s contract is up after the season and it is unknown if Denver will entertain bringing him back. Denver should strongly consider it right now.

However, Williams being the newest addition and the high potential as a number one running back makes his future fascinating. Williams is one of the many special talents the Broncos added on day two of the 2021 NFL Draft.

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