Broncos' Bibbs "changed himself" and earned the opportunity ahead

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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – When the Denver Broncos were setting their roster at the end of training camp, the biggest concern surrounding the idea of cutting Ronnie Hillman was the lack of experience behind starting running back C.J. Anderson. The concern being, if Anderson went down, behind him would be two players with zero career carries heading into this season.

As you know, the Broncos did cut Hillman, and as you know, that fear has now come true.

Anderson will be out indefinitely after undergoing surgery on a torn meniscus in his knee. That leaves rookie back Devontae Booker and Kapri Bibbs—who now have a combined 55 carries in their respective careers (51 of which belonging to Booker)—to shoulder the load in the Broncos backfield.

While Booker is coming off of a breakout game in which he tallied 83 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, Bibbs remains a large unknown. . . At least to those outside of the Broncos organization.

“I’m excited to see him play. Kapri changed himself, in my opinion, just watching him work and watching him work at the game,” head coach Gary Kubiak stated on Thursday. “He’s a better player this year than he was last year for us. He’s going to have an opportunity now.”

The Broncos have stood by Bibbs, stashing him on the practice squad for most of 2014 and 2015, singing his praises the whole time and finally sticking him on the 53-man roster when push came to shove this year. Now, Bibbs has a chance to reward them.

“I think as a coach you’re excited to see a guy (get his chance),” Kubiak explained. “‘You’ve earned the opportunity, now let’s go see how you play.’ It’s coming… That is what this league is about. It’s going to happen; it’s just how you respond and how guys step up.”

Coming into the season, the Broncos made it very clear that the days of hiding Kapri on the practice squad were over; it was time to put up or shut up, and the Colorado State product responded.

“I don’t think there is an area that he hasn’t improved,” offensive coordinator Rick Dennison stated plainly. “I think he’s improved in his detail and his urgency. Obviously, he’s always had very good run skills; that’s why he’s here. Everything he does, he’s gotten better at it and has worked extremely hard about it. That’s the biggest thing. When he makes that big of an improvement, he’s worked his tail off.”

As Bibbs has put his nose to the grindstone and become a better player, his confidence has gone to the next level as well. The man who put the ball in the end zone a whopping 30 times during his final season in Fort Collins (third most all-time in the NCAA), has his head back in that space. He’s now learned what it takes at this level.

“I think we’re going to go in there and we’re going to handle our business… I just think the difference from last year to this year is pure maturity. It’s just knowing what to put my time into, knowing when to put my time into it and knowing when to do other things and when to do football. When you’re young, sometimes you don’t understand how much you need to put into this game… I thought I was putting in enough time. I thought that my reactions to a lot of things would help me out, but I learned very quickly that that doesn’t fly in this game.”

Once known as a touchdown fiend, the Broncos running back has been starved for three seasons now. On Sunday, he’ll tuck in his bib once again, hoping for a feast.

“I’m ready to play,” he concluded. “I don’t think there is going to be any drop-off.”