Broncos making the AFC Championship game? PFF gives three bold predictions for Denver in 2023
- Who leads the team in receiving yards? Is Jeudy the easy answer?
2. Veteran RB signing before Week 1:
During the 2022-2023 season, the Denver Broncos had a bunch of running backs on the roster. They started the season with Melvin Gordon, Javonte Williams, and Mike Boone. Javonte had a brutal knee injury during the team's Week 4 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, where he tore his ACL, LCL, and PCL. Melvin Gordon was released due to fumbling issues. Boone was never seen as an RB1, so the team signed veteran RB Latavius Murray, traded for Chase Edmonds, and later on signed Marlon Mack and Tyler Badie.
Murray emerged as the starting running back for the Denver Broncos since he signed with the team. In 12 games he played for the Broncos in 2022-2023, Murray had 160 carries for 703 yards, and five touchdowns.
In free agency, Murray signed with the Buffalo Bills, Marlon Mack signed with the Arizona Cardinals, and Chase Edmonds signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Due to the depatures at the running back position, Denver signed Samaje Perine, and Tony Jones Jr.
Regarding this bold prediction, Monson mentioned the following ...
""All of the reports surrounding Javonte Williams are positive so far, talking about a miraculous comeback and recovery. For him to be ready to go and effective in Week 1, given the severity of his knee injury, would be truly bordering on miraculous. But anything short of that would give Denver a real incentive to sign a veteran for cover in the meantime. Samaje Perine is a nice addition as a third-down back, but the team doesn’t have any proven Williams cover as the bell cow if he can’t hit the ground running from his recovery.""
- Sam Monson - PFF
If Javonte Williams is not fully healthy ... should Denver use Perine as the RB1? Should they sign a veteran?