Six running backs are vying for the three spots: Javonte Williams, Audric Estime, Samaje Perine, Jahlil McLaughlin, Tyler Buddy and Blake Watson.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Rookie running back Audric Estime will turn 21 two days before the Broncos' season opener against Seattle on Sept. 8.
Youth should be on his side while he recovers from knee surgery that will keep him out of the final two weeks of the Broncos' offseason program.
Estime was injured during the Broncos' third OTA on May 23 and had two full months and a few days to recover before the start of training camp.
With Estime out, Javonte Williams has a big chance to re-emerge, and the Broncos know they can't enter 2024 with their No. 1 running back in the same spot after 2023.
Coming off a gruesome ACL injury suffered when Raiders star Maxx Crosby slammed him headfirst into the ground just four games into the 2022 season, Williams had his best games just before and after last year's bye week, rushing 25 times for 134 yards and 5.4 yards per carry in games against the Chiefs and Packers.
But Williams never topped 3.9 yards per carry in the Broncos' final 10 games, and in the final four games, Williams was limited to just 2.6 yards per carry for 124 total yards.
It wasn't an ACL that weakened Williams' leg late last season, but rather a year of struggling to rehab from that injury, and at just 24 years old, Javonte should be much better after a year off injury.
“He looks good,” coach Sean Payton said. “Historically, when you talk to the experts, they say it takes two years to fully recover, so obviously he'll start playing before then, but he looks good. He's in good shape. I know he's looking forward to it.”
“The challenge last year, when you think about it, even in training camp, it was still hard for him to be confident and at full speed,” Payton said. “But we developed him and got him to a point where everybody felt comfortable and he was able to play. I think he's looking forward to this year and is definitely feeling confident in his health and the strength of his knee.”
At this point in the offseason, without pads or tackles, it's hard to evaluate Williams or the Broncos' other five running backs — Estime, Samaje Perine, Jahlil McLaughlin, Blake Watson and Tyler Buddy — on the field.
McLaughlin, Watson and Buddy were the most explosive players, as they always are, the smaller running backs who practice in shorts and T-shirts.
The competition for the Broncos' three running backs to open the season on their 53-man roster appears to be intense, and here are some, but not all, of the many trio combination options the Broncos could potentially decide on by the first week of September.
Incumbents: Williams, Perrin, McLaughlin
Even if each of them had a good chance of making the team, keeping all three would be the least likely combination, as the trio's overall performance was not good enough: The Broncos were 18th in rushing, tied for 21st with 4.0 yards per carry and tied for 28th with just eight rushing touchdowns.
Williams was the lead back, Perine was the third-down passing back and McLaughlin was the change-of-pace back.
Children: Estime, Watson, McLaughlin
Wouldn't that be impressive? McLaughlin won't turn 24 until the second week of the regular season, making Watson, a 24-year-old undrafted rookie, the oldest of the proposed group.
While Watson and McLaughlin may look like similar backs — both fast but small at under 5-foot-10 and under 200 pounds — Watson could play the receiver role after recording a combined 90 catches over the past two seasons with Old Dominion and Memphis.
Strong players: Estime, Williams, Perine
This group may have too much power and not enough top-end speed, but the Broncos shouldn't have a hard time getting third-and-short.
The Electric: McLaughlin, Watson, Buddy
Speed, speed and more speed. Again, this is unlikely, with no heavy hitters in the group. But Payton could run a three-back rotation, with each player getting 8-10 carries and 2-3 catches per game, and have 6-foot-2.5, 217-pound quarterback Bo Nix play third-and-short. (Obviously, it's not likely, but we're having fun here.)
Many of these backs are interchangeable, so it's not as simple as saying No. 1 will be a battle between Williams and Estime, No. 2 will be Perine and Watson and No. 3 will be between McLaughlin, Watson and Buddy.
And as Estime's knee surgery reminds us, injuries often play a factor in the running back competition. Still, running back will be one of the most intriguing position battles of camp, along with Bo vs. Bo at quarterback and Riley Dixon vs. Trenton Gill at punter.
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