AFC West running back rotations ranked from worst to best in 2023

2. Denver Broncos

Javonte Williams, Samaje Perine, Tyler Badie/Tony Jones Jr.

A lot of this depends on health, but the Denver Broncos have a really solid top two at the running back position when both Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine are healthy.

At his best, I think Javonte Williams is one of the best running backs in the NFL and an ascending player who contributes on all three downs. He's already got almost 1,500 yards from scrimmage in his first 21 NFL games, including 59 receptions, 16 of which came last season despite the fact that he only played in four games.

In Javonte Williams, the Broncos have a true RB1 who can handle a full workload, pass protect, and do everything you want to see modern running backs do. Behind him is veteran Samaje Perine, another player who excels on all three downs. Perine has really grown tremendously since joining the Cincinnati Bengals a handful of years ago after he started his NFL career with Washington.

Perine had 681 yards from scrimmage last year playing in tandem with Joe Mixon, the most yards from scrimmage he has had since he was a rookie. He also scored a total of six touchdowns, the most in his NFL career thus far. He also averaged a very strong 5.1 yards per touch overall, ranking him tied for 29th best among all offensive players in the NFL.

Even though he's 27 going on 28 this year, Perine has a lot to offer as a physical runner, a receiver, and a blocker when asked to do so.

I think if these two guys are healthy, they give the Denver Broncos one of the better running back duos in the league. If Javonte Williams is not ready for the start of the year, I do think the Broncos would be pushed down this list to the bottom, and Samaje Perine would have to prove he can get back to what he used to do at Oklahoma as a featured back.

Otherwise, the Broncos might be in the market for someone like Dalvin Cook, Ezekiel Elliott, or Leonard Fournette.