Jeremy Brevard-USA Today Sports
With OTAs ongoing here in Denver, and with eight Running Backs currently listed on the Denver Broncos roster, including Jacob Hester, one has to be lead to believe that Willis McGahee and Knowshon Moreno could have both seen their last days in a Broncos Uniform.
McGahee is not making a good start to the 2013 season with being the only veteran on the team to not show up for the offseason’s non mandatory OTAs. While McGahee’s agent has been on record to say the no show is for “Personal Family Reasons”, I am still lead to believe he is a little frustrated with Denver drafting a back in the last two drafts. And even though Moreno has showed up and played a nice backup role late last year, with past injuries and sporadic production while on the field, the former first round pick has to be feeling that his run here in Denver could be near as well.
McGahee was a big addition when he joined the team in 2011, rushing for over 1,000 yards and starting 14 out of 15 games, but his inconsistency on the field with holding the football, fumbling nine times in 23 games as a Bronco, and injuries throughout his career, are causing some Broncos fans to think the time has come to let him walk. The Broncos will more than likely keep at least four running backs on the active roster and my money would be on Montee Ball, the Broncos second Round pick in this year’s draft, to be taking the majority of the hand offs from Peyton Manning in 2013. So, if the writing is on the wall for McGahee and Moreno, six backs would remain on the team in Ball, Lance Ball, Ronnie Hillman, Jeremiah Johnson, Hester and Cj Anderson. I expect Lance Ball will be gone once the season starts and Johnson and Anderson to both land on the Practice Squad.
I still think both players can be quality backs for any NFL roster, but with the inconsistency of both throughout the last couple of years, John Elway would be wise to cut ties with them. Moreno may have the better future of the two since he is still fairly young and showed small bursts of production at the end of 2012. One thing is for sure though, if I am wrong and McGahee or Moreno somehow make their way onto the final 53 man roster, they wont be receiving the reps they have been accustomed to seeing in previous years. So on Sept. 5, when the Broncos take on the Baltimore Ravens, it should be the new guys in Montee Ball and Hillman taking turns standing in the huddle, instead of the veterans, McGahee and Moreno.
Brandyn Nuffer is a Denver Broncos writer for www.RantSports.Com. Follow him on Twitter or Like him on Facebook
