When Javonte Williams took the handoff from quarterback Bo Nix on the Broncos’ first offensive play of the season, he was greeted with the kind of wide-open spaces that populate a running back’s dreams.
With the help of a well-executed cut block by tight end Nate Adkins, Williams zoomed through the hole on the left side, directly into the second level of the defense. He appeared destined for the end zone, but he settled for a 9-yard run after he was tripped up by a diving swipe at his churning cleats.
It appeared to be a promising early sign of Williams’ progress as he entered his fourth season, hopeful the detrimental impact of a brutal knee injury in 2022 was fully behind him. But that initial carry stands as a high-water mark through two games. Williams has been unable to produce a single explosive run among any of his 19 rush attempts. Forty running backs have carried the ball at least 15 times through the first two weeks of the season. Only two of them are producing fewer yards per carry than Williams’ 2.1 average. Williams gained only 17 yards on 11 carries in Sunday’s 13-6 loss to the Steelers.
“It’s frustrating because everybody wants to have those 200-, 300-yard games, but it’s the NFL,” Williams said. “Like I said, everybody’s professionals, but we just have to get it fixed before it’s too late. Coach (Sean Payton) said, ‘The first four weeks is race to improve.’ So we’ve just gotta improve better than everybody else and go from there.”
Williams insisted throughout training camp — and again after Sunday’s game — his surgically repaired knee is no longer an issue. He is also playing closer to his college playing weight of 221 pounds after dropping 11 pounds at the behest of Payton this offseason. He benefitted from a relatively normal offseason after spending the ramp-up to the 2023 season finishing the knee rehab. Yet, Williams in the early days of the 2024 season looks like the running back who lost steam during the second half of last season. He is averaging just 3.13 yards per carry in his last 12 games dating back to Week 8 last season. He’s averaged fewer than 3 yards per carry in five out of his last six games, all of which have included at least eight rush attempts.
Williams as a rookie in 2021 was among the NFL’s leaders in broken tackles. He frequently bulldozed his way to the second level with a uniquely physical running style. He hasn’t forced any missed tackles through the first two weeks of the season, and there are times, Payton said Monday, when Williams’ has missed cut opportunities. But Payton, who began his coaching career as the running backs coach at San Diego State, said Denver’s issues with that aspect of the offense extend beyond the team’s top back.
“I’d say it’s probably a collection of all of us,” he said. “Let’s start with design and scheme and then let’s get into some execution. I just watched a play (from Sunday’s game) where we gained 3 yards and it should have been a gain of 7 yards. How are we blocking the backside of this? Do we need to clean that up? (Williams) misses a cut or two in the game. We need to make sure we get his eyes where they need to be. Having coached that position before, it’s very easy to over-coach. So where is your key? There is usually one defensive player you’re keying on, and he can predicate or dictate your cut.”
The statistics match Payton’s assertion that the inability for the Broncos to find success with their designed run game isn’t solely a Williams problem. Denver through two games has produced only 103 rushing yards from its running backs, the third-lowest total in the league. It’s also the lowest output for the Broncos from that position group through a season’s first two games since at least 2000, according to TruMedia. Jaleel McLaughlin, the No. 2 back, is averaging only 2.5 yards on his 13 carries. If you take away his 15-yard run against the Seahawks in Week 1, McLaughlin’s other 12 carries have gone for just 18 yards.
The Broncos got 12 of their 103 running back yards on one run from Audric Estimé, the rookie who landed on IR suffering a Week 1 ankle injury. And 16 yards came on Tyler Badie’s lone carry Sunday. Payton said the team had other plays marked for Badie, who was active as the No. 3 back for the first time Sunday, but the Broncos didn’t get to them.
“Getting the third back involved is sometimes on special teams, sometimes in the passing game,” Payton said. “Obviously, it was a good run by him and it’s something where you take notice of it. It’s something as a play caller, someone who’s looking at the game, I’ve got to be able to see that. He’s a player, though, who had his name on a lot of different plays that were either red zone or situational plays that we weren’t able to get to. It’s not intentional. It’s not like we’re not aware. You’re in the flow of a game and you have to be better that way.”
There are times when Denver’s running backs have lacked vision, but there isn’t always much to see. Take McLaughlin’s first carry of Sunday’s game, with Denver facing a second-and-7. The running back took a pitch from Nix and ran behind a convoy that included fullback Michael Burton, wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey and tight end Adam Trautman, who had motioned from the left side before the snap. But the Broncos confused assignments, and before McLaughlin could reach the line of scrimmage, he was staring at a wall of three Pittsburgh tacklers.
The Broncos early in the third quarter faced a third-and-1 at their 29-yard line. They appeared poised to avoid a three-and-out to begin the second half like the one that burned them in Seattle. But Steelers safety DeShon Elliott casually strolled to the line of scrimmage, then burst unblocked through the ‘B’ gap, dropping Williams for a 4-yard loss the moment he took the handoff.
Ran into a brick wall named DeShon Elliott 💪
📺: #PITvsDEN on CBS/Paramount pic.twitter.com/eYffkgH9e3
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) September 15, 2024
“There was definitely an emphasis on the run game this week,” right guard Quinn Meinerz said. “It really sucks to fall short once again.”
Payton on Monday said there were things he saw on Sunday’s film from his rookie quarterback that were encouraging, particularly in the second half. He said the team’s protection improved around him, even though it was still inconsistent. But the running game remains a core issue. It wasn’t good enough for most of last season, and it’s looked even worse to begin 2024. Payton said he still has faith in Williams. But there is also the coach’s mantra about players — “I don’t need to see it all the time, but I still need to see it” — to keep in mind with the backfield rotation.
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“I saw it in training camp and I look forward to seeing it this season,” Payton said of Williams. “In the meantime, some of these other guys are doing a good job. … You’re patient, and yet at some point — and it starts up front, obviously — you want to see those runs.”
(Photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
