Can the Broncos keep two Pro Bowl 'three-down backs' happy?

DENVER — “I really do think you need more than one running back,” offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said in June.

The Broncos have two recent Pro Bowlers. And through two days of training camp, neither has been a disappointment.

The Broncos don’t have a bad option at running back between Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay. Each has proven to be reliable. Both burst out of the blocks on the first day of training camp, with each of them turning in splash plays that would have been double-digit gains in game situations.

“I’ve just been coming to work and doing what I do and just show my skill,” Gordon said after Sunday’s practice. “Phil’s been trying to show his. The way they use us is how they use us. I just know that I’ll be ready when my jersey number is called.”

That said, both of them want to prove they can do everything.

Lindsay has the better per-carry average. Gordon has the better per-catch pace. But in the first practice of training camp, it was Lindsay who had the longest gain in the passing game, slipping into the left flat and waiting for Lock to find him in open space after going through his progressions. When he did, Lindsay was off and galloping down the left sideline. Gordon, meanwhile, had some explosive runs. He burst through holes as they flashed open and got up to fifth gear with his long, upright stride in a hurry.

Both want to prove that they can be all things in all situations.

“I never like to get off the field unless I have to,” Gordon said.

But there is one thing he must overcome to make that possible.

“The altitude is a little different around here,” Gordon noted. “I’ve got to build up my wind a little bit.”

Working at mile-high elevation is just a bit different than playing in San Diego’s Mission Valley and the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, Calif. The elevation of those two places is 52 and 49 feet, respectively.

“No back should like getting off the field and every back should feel like they’re a three-down [guy]. That’s how I try to carry myself and I’m pretty prideful in that,” Gordon said.

There isn’t room for both to be the three-down back — unless the Broncos choose to divide the repetitions by possession, rather than situation.

That approach has been used from time to time in the 21st century, most successfully by the 2008-09 Carolina Panthers. Their running-back duo of Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams is the last pair of running backs to have 1,000 yards for the same team in the same season. (Baltimore had two 1,000-yard runners last year, but one of them was quarterback Lamar Jackson.

If both Gordon and Lindsay prove they can be effective in all scenarios, this is the approach that could make the most sense.

“It’s going well and we’re competing. That’s the thing — we’ll make each other better,” Gordon said. “Out here, I’m trying to be the best Melvin Gordon I can be, working on everything. When I get done with a run, I ask them and I ask [Running backs coach] Curtis [Modkins], ‘Do you see anything I can do better?’ We’re playing unselfishly right now, and we’re both trying to help each other get better. At the end of the day, we’re still competing and trying to be the guy.”

But do the Broncos really need “the guy”?

Shurmur had “the guy” in the last two seasons as New York Giants head coach. “The guy” was Saquon Barkley, and with 621 total touches and 21.4 per game over the 2018 and 2019 campaigns, he has more touches than all but two players in that span (Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott and Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey).

But the gap between Barkley and his backups was massive. Over the last two years, Barkley averaged 1.5 more yards per carry than the Giants’ reserves, picking up 4.8 yards per tote while the backups mustered just 3.3 yards per attempt. He also averaged 1.4 more yards per reception than the Giants’ backups.

Contrast that with Shurmur’s time with the Minnesota Vikings, particularly in 2017 after Dalvin Cook tore his ACL. The difference between Latavius Murray and Jerrick McKinnon was one-tenth of a yard on the ground (Murray 4.0 and McKinnon 3.9) and 1.6 yards on receptions (McKinnon 8.9 and Murray 7.3). So in the final 12 games of the season, Murray averaged 17.9 touches per game, while McKinnon had 15.3 per game.

When the gap between starter and reserves is a gulf, you have to ride one player.

When it’s a sliver between two Pro Bowlers, you find ways to get them both involved.

“You’ve got to have some collision balance. Your ability to break a tackle, bounce and create what is normally a good gain into an explosive one,” Shurmur said in June. “They share those traits. They’ve both been very productive in this league, and we intend to use both of them.”

Two months later and two practices into training camp, using both Gordon and Lindsay appears to be the wisest utilization of the Broncos’ resources.