ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Earlier this week we published a story on De’Angelo Henderson that contained a highly confident quote from the upstart rookie.

The answer came when we asked Henderson who would win in a straight-line race between all of the running backs.

“I do. I do,” he said without a second of hesitation and a mile-wide smile. “I’m not sure by how much, but I do.”

The confidence is admirable, but it also raised some questions from our readers. Is Henderson really that fast? Has former track star Jamaal Charles lost a step?

In search of clarity, we surveyed a large portion of the running back room to find out what they thought, and it sounds like De’Angelo has some proving to do.

C.J. Anderson:

Q: Who would win in a straight-line race between the running backs?

A: “Jamaal Charles. That’s a sick question.”

Q: De’Angelo feels pretty good about his chances.

A: “That could be true too! They’re both fast. C.J. is nowhere in there, I’ll leave that race to the fast cats.”

“It’d be a good race. De’Angelo is fast, Jamaal Is fast. We’ll have to see. They’ll get an opportunity to get in the open field. If I get in the open field, I just break a lot of tackles. They’ll get in the open field and they won’t get touched.”

Andy Janovich

Q: Who would win in a straight-line race between the running backs?

A: “Jamaal. Jamaal.”

Q: Is De’Angelo Henderson wrong in thinking he would win?

A: “For sure. For sure. Jamaal, he’s fast.”

Bernard Pierce

Q: Who would win in a straight-line race between the running backs?

A: “Jamaal.”

Q: Would De’Angelo Henderson stand a chance?

A: “De’Angelo is fast but he’s not that fast. Jamaal. I’m not even sure who gets second.”

Stevan Ridley

Q: Who would win in a straight-line race between the running backs?

A: “Still Jamaal Charles. Come on bro.”

Running backs coach Eric Studesville

“Jamaal. Jamaal. Jamaal. Jamaal. Jamaal. Not even close.”

What we found out

1) Jamaal Charles still has it in the speed department

2) Henderson still has it in the confidence department. Told of the results of our survey, Henderson laughed, put on that same big smile and said, “Maybe we’ll just have to line it up out here one day for you.”