With so many other needs on the Denver Broncos, is running back being overlooked heading into free agency and the NFL Draft?
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00:00 because looking at this draft class,
00:02 running back group, not good, honestly.
00:06 There might not be a running back taken
00:08 before the third round in this upcoming draft.
00:10 A lot of the top guys made the decision
00:13 to go back to college.
00:15 That might be one of those positions
00:16 that's really impacted by these NIL deals,
00:20 where they're willing to,
00:22 hey, let's go get another year
00:24 of getting $2 million in college,
00:27 then come to the NFL and start that clock
00:30 on our rookie contract,
00:32 where most likely we're not making it
00:33 past our rookie contract.
00:35 So I think that's one of those positions
00:36 that's pushing them back for another year.
00:39 And so I do think there's a pretty good chance
00:42 the running back room's not gonna look
00:44 any different next year.
00:45 You're gonna have Williams, Pirine, and McLaughlin.
00:48 And I do expect Williams to be better,
00:52 another year removed from his injury.
00:56 His biggest issue is still gonna be there though, vision.
01:00 That's gonna be the biggest thing there,
01:01 is can he improve at least a little bit
01:03 in that kind of category?
01:05 Because if he has that break tackle ability
01:07 and improves in vision,
01:08 he can be a great running back in the NFL.
01:10 He can be a top 10 running back, if that's the case.
01:13 If you take what he did his rookie year
01:14 with a little bit better vision,
01:17 that's a top 10 running back.
01:18 I don't expect that.
01:19 I expect it to maybe in that 15 to 20 range.
01:22 But you add in McLaughlin,
01:24 I think he's a great fit with Sean Payton.
01:26 We saw at the end of the year,
01:28 they seem to be really leaning into him,
01:30 especially once they started Stidham.
01:32 Because they're like, "Hey, we can get this guy
01:34 "in a rhythm, we can use him in the passing game."
01:36 And they even talked about that
01:37 in their post-season conference of,
01:42 we think that this guy could be turned,
01:45 we could turn him into something more.
01:46 He could become that joker that we've seen
01:48 so many running backs do so well with Sean Payton.
01:52 So I do, I think you're probably gonna be
01:55 with that kind of room.
01:56 It is a position that maybe is a little bit more
01:58 of a need than people realize,
02:01 because you don't have that true number one running back
02:04 by any means.
02:06 But I think there's worse teams out there
02:08 than what those three can bring to the table.