DENVER — “Plan B? No we don’t have Plan B. We’re going Plan A,” John Elway stated with excitement as he introduced Peyton Manning, aka Plan A, as the newest Denver Bronco in March, 2012.
Nearly a decade ago, the Broncos landed a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback to guide their offense to the record books.
George Paton and Nathaniel Hackett hope to go all-in on a similar Plan A this offseason too by acquiring the likes of another future Hall-of-Fame quarterback—say Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson.
But if Denver isn’t able to pull off the homerun Plan A, as Elway did in 2012, there will be a Plan B.
But it won’t be in the form of a quarterback.
And no, the Broncos won’t run out Kendall Hinton at the most important position in sports. But their offense will take a significant load off a lower-tier quarterback thanks to what Hackett will do with Javonte Williams and Denver’s running game.
You see, if Nathaniel Hackett is given a Hall-of-Fame quarterback, he fares pretty darn well. Just look at the past three years with Rodgers in Green Bay.
However, when the 42-year old is given a, well, not tier-one quarterback, he shifts gears—significantly.
Instead of turning to the air, he turns around and hands the ball to his running backs.
In his five seasons as an NFL play caller, Hackett has built two different elite rushing offenses, one in Buffalo and one in Jacksonville.
As a first-time play caller in 2013, Hackett was dealt rookie E.J. Manuel, Thaddeus Lewis and Jeff Tuel at quarterback. Those three combined weren’t exactly Rodgers, to say the least. Instead of putting the offense on their shoulders, he turned to an electric backfield.
Behind C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson, Hackett and the Bills had the most rushing attempts and the second most rushing yards in the NFL. Spiller and Jackson split the load evenly with Spiller racking up 202 carries for 933 yards, while Jackson had 890 yards on 206 attempts.
Three years later, Hackett, was dealt a similar situation with Blake Bortles as his quarterback. Entering the 2017 season, Bortles had compiled a 11-34 record with a 58.8 completion percentage, 69 passing touchdowns to 51 interceptions.
To help Bortles and the Jags’ offense, Hackett turned to Leonard Fournette and Jacksonville’s ground game.
On their way to the AFC Championship game, the Jaguars led the league in rushing yards and rushing attempts along with having the second-most rushing touchdowns.
This time, however, Fournette carried the majority of the load as he racked up 1,040 yards on the ground, with four other players adding at least 248 yards a piece.
If the Broncos don’t land their next version of Manning this offseason, Hackett won’t be afraid to run the offense through Javonte Williams.
After a promising and thrilling rookie season, the former second-round pick appears primed for a breakout year, especially if the team doesn’t re-sign Melvin Gordon and Williams is the lone No. 1 back on the team.
As a rookie, Williams rushed for 903 yards. As the sole No. 1 running back on the team, if Denver doesn’t re-sign Gordon, Williams would be expected to go well over Fournette’s 1,040 yards he had in 2017.
However, if Gordon does sign on with the Broncos for another season, Hackett’s proved he can effectively manage a one-two punch in the backfield as he did in Buffalo in 2013. If that’s the case, a similar output to last year could be expected for 2022, where Gordon added 918 yards on the ground. Both Gordon and Williams had exactly 203 carries.
Landing Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson is a mighty fine Plan A.
Plan B, however, won’t be riding a tier-two quarterback into the ground. Instead, it’ll be literally running the offense through Javonte Williams.
