The Denver Broncos have the potential to boast the best running back duo in the AFC West, but it's a loaded division with a number of very proven players in 2023. Prior to his major knee injury last season, Javonte Williams was looking like a star, and the Broncos signed veteran Samaje Perine in 2023 NFL Free Agency.
In 2023, the AFC West could be considered one of the most loaded running back divisions in football, but there remain some major question marks heading into the season for just about every team. How has the overall landscape of the AFC West changed at this position since last season? Where does each team rank in terms of their overall running back rotation?
4. Las Vegas Raiders
Josh Jacobs, Ameer Abdullah, Brandon Bolden, Zamir White
Crazy enough, the Las Vegas Raiders may have had the best running back in the league last year and simultaneously they have one of the league's worst running back groups. I really struggled with this ranking because I wanted to give more weight to the starters or RB1 for each AFC West roster, but this is a ranking of RB groups and rotations, and with that being the case, the Raiders' depth at this position looks awful on paper.
Last season, Josh Jacobs racked up over 2,000 yards from scrimmage on his way to 1st-team All-Pro honors, and deservedly so. Behind him, however, was nothing. The top two rushers behind Jacobs for the Raiders last season were Derek Carr and Jarrett Stidham, the team's primary QBs. Zamir White played in 14 games and finished with just 70 rushing yards.
Ameer Abdullah and Brandon Bolden at least contributed some in the passing game, but Josh Jacobs' case for a long-term contract with his pending holdout gets stronger and stronger. If he's not playing, the Raiders' running back room is one of the worst I've seen in recent memory.
3. Los Angeles Chargers
Austin Ekeler, Joshua Kelley, Isaiah Spiller
Once again, I really struggled with this because I wanted to weight it more heavily on the starting running back, and Austin Ekeler is exceptional. Over the last two seasons, he's racked up 38 total touchdowns from scrimmage and is one of the league's truly elite weapons at the position in the passing game.
And he's criminally underpaid.
Joshua Kelley contributed 287 rushing yards last season, a pair of touchdowns, and a total of 388 yards from scrimmage, which is solid. I really liked Isaiah Spiller coming out of Texas A&M in last year's NFL Draft, but he was only a fourth-round pick and will need a true breakout to prove that he's got the chops to stick in the NFL.
As a rookie in 2022, Spiller only touched the ball 21 times in total.
Obviously, if you were to rank the top running backs in the AFC West, I think the Raiders and Chargers would be in the top two spots. Austin Ekeler and Josh Jacobs are among the best offensive weapons in the game today, but when you look at their running back rotations in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, it's just not all that inspiring.
If the Chargers were to lose Austin Ekeler for any significant period of time, I think it would absolutely cripple this position group for them. And as a pure running back, Austin Ekeler doesn't exactly strike fear into defenses. He averages about 12 total carries per game, but it's his ability as a receiver that really sets him apart from other NFL backs. He averaged more than six receptions per game over the course of last season.
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.
1. Kansas City Chiefs
Isiah Pacheco, Jerick McKinnon, Clyde Edwards-Helaire
I initially thought the Kansas City Chiefs were going to wind up last on this list, but when you look at their rotation of running backs, they are doing more than just "making it work" right now.
First off, I think there's a bit of a negative perception about the Chiefs' running back rotation because Clyde Edwards-Helaire is considered by many to be an NFL Draft "bust" as a former first-round pick not really living up to the billing. Although Edwards-Helaire may be falling short of living up to his NFL Draft status, he contributed six total touchdowns and 453 yards on 88 total touches last year (10 games).
Jerick McKinnon has really become a valuable weapon in the Chiefs' passing game over the last couple of years, and actually scored 10 total touchdowns for them last season while ranking fourth on the team with over 800 yards from scrimmage.
Isiah Pacheco was a 7th-round rookie in 2022 who wound up leading the Chiefs in rushing yards (830) and rushing touchdowns (5). He then added 262 yards from scrimmage in the playoffs, proving that his rookie regular season was not just a statistical gimmick or result of the Chiefs just blowing everyone out. Pacheco is a legit RB1 in Kansas City moving forward who had over 1,200 yards in total last season, playoffs included.
This running back rotation for the Chiefs combined for a grand total of 2,216 yards from scrimmage, 21 total touchdowns, and 86 total receptions. Forget the AFC West, the Chiefs' current running back rotation is one of the best in the league when you lay it all out like that.