Broncos Are Prepared to Draft a RB Despite Javonte Williams Optimism
People are a little bit worried about the Denver Broncos' running back situation. With Javonte Williams returning from a serious knee injury, there are some question marks at running back, even with the additions of free agents Samaje Perine and Tony Jones Jr.
However, Broncos GM George Paton didn't sound too stressed about Williams' outlook on Thursday when he held court digitally with local press alongside head coach Sean Payton ahead of the NFL draft.
"Javonte is doing really well in his rehab," Paton said. "We don't have a date but we feel good. We feel good he'll be back this season. Not entirely sure when but he's progressing very well."
William suffered a multi-ligament knee tear in Week 4 of last season, which has clouded his 2023 outlook. The Broncos made a few acquisitions in free agency to hedge against Williams' timetable, and Paton also won't rule out taking a running back in the draft.
"Like all the positions, like we just talked about with the O-linemen, if there's a runner there, no matter what point in the draft, and he's the best player on our board, we'll take a running back," Paton said. "That's for sure. We feel like, like I said earlier, with free agency, we addressed enough needs where we can take the best player throughout the draft. We do not need to reach."
Not long after the Broncos had signed Perine, Coach Payton talked about how he sees "flex" in the back. Perine's versatility to check just about every running back box the Broncos could ask for made him a valuable addition, especially with Williams' future uncertain.
Even if Williams was perfectly healthy, the Broncos aren't going to rule out taking a running back in this draft. Payton shared a great anecdote from his time as head coach of the New Orleans Saints on the subject of how Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara ended up there, despite the team investing heavily into the position prior to the draft.
"I think that was one of the pluses with Samaje being available in free agency. We felt like, 'Man, there's flexibility there,'" Payton said on Thursday. "And even in New Orleans, we were discussing this scenario that we had Mark Ingram. We had just signed Adrian Peterson, so we felt like with the top two guys, we were in a good position. And then Kamara fell. We traded back into it [third round] and drafted Alvin. And those are value decisions. That's the significance of the free agency process and George alluded to it a little bit. You're hoping that you free yourself up a little bit to give yourself more flexibility in the draft, so that you're not taking the toaster over the, like, double oven."
Indeed, the Broncos' big free-agent acquisitions seem to have liberated the front office from the compulsion to knee-jerk and draft players solely based on roster needs. While every draft pick has both need and best-player-available elements, to a greater or lesser degree, the goal of every offseason is to have done enough work in free agency to not be bound by need come the NFL draft.
The Broncos will add another running back this offseason — it's just a matter of how and when. Meanwhile, Denver is maintaining an optimistic public posture on Williams' outlook, while not-so-quietly making the necessary roster moves to hedge against the misfortune of a possible setback or even the player not returning to his pre-injury form.
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