The Denver Broncos suffered a gut punch of an injury when running back Javonte Williams, whose impending rise to stardom seemed imminent following a promising rookie season, suffered a torn ACL in the team’s Week 4 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders. With Williams lost for the season, who are the next men up on the Broncos RB depth chart?
Broncos RB Depth Chart
When Williams went down, Denver turned to two veterans, Melvin Gordon III and Mike Boone, to pick up the slack last week. Now, let’s get the easy answer out of the way. On the “unofficial depth chart” listed on the team’s website, Gordon is listed as the second-string back behind Williams, and Boone is listed third.
For now, that should lead us to believe that Gordon is technically the next man up at the position, but there’s more to consider here.
Gordon will get the first crack at the starting job moving forward. Broncos offensive coordinator Justin Outten essentially said as much in a recent media appearance.
“With Melvin, he’s going to carry the load, obviously. We’ll have a mix of Boone, and then after that, we’ve got to figure out who can spell & who feels best in that position,” Outten explained.
Case closed? Not exactly. Despite Williams’ injury, Gordon played just 19% of the team’s offensive snaps in Week 4. Boone, on the other hand, received 36% of the snaps. To be fair, Gordon played through a neck injury during the contest, and he received a “limited” tag on the team’s Tuesday injury report.
It’s unclear exactly how much the injury impacted Gordon’s involvement, but it seems that he has a good chance to play in the team’s Thursday Night Football matchup with the Indianapolis Colts.
One more factor to monitor here: Gordon has fumbled four times across Denver’s first four contests of the year. Should his ball-security problems continue, or should he struggle otherwise, it’s likely that Boone will get a chance to mix in more frequently.
Who Else is On the Broncos’ RB Depth Chart?
Denver signed veteran running back Latavius Murray off of the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad following Murray’s impressive Week 4 performance filling in for an injured Alvin Kamara.
Murray accepted Denver’s offer despite an attempt from New Orleans to retain him on New Orleans’ own active roster, according to neworleans.football’s Nick Underhill.
MORE: Waiver Wire Advice for Latavius Murray
Given the choice of offers, it stands to reason that Murray expects a chance to contribute in Denver. That said, Gordon and Boone both sit ahead of him on the depth chart and will have a chance to stake their own claim on snaps and carries before Murray substantially enters the fold.
Denver also has Devine Ozigbo on the team’s practice squad. Ozigbo, a 2019 undrafted free agent out of Nebraska, bounced around practice squads and active rosters with the Saints, Jacksonville Jaguars, and New England Patriots before landing in Denver this offseason.
