Broncos operations boss John Elway talked about his team's running back situation early this week. The overwhelming impression is that Denver hopes to come away with its franchise runner of the future over the weekend.
"With (Willis) McGahee, he's our big back right now," Elway said. "We have Ronnie Hillman who's a 190-pounder change-of-pace type guy. We look at Willis as being that big back for us right now, and then we'll see what happens in the draft."
Needless to say, it's not good news for those holding Hillman in dynasty leagues, hoping he'll emerge as a feature back. The team doesn't view him that way, now or in the future. McGahee will likely be the Week 1 starter, but McGahee turns 32 during the season. The eventual starter looks a lot like someone the team plans to draft Thursday or (more likely) Friday.
Not mentioned is Knowshon Moreno, ironic since he started the second half of the season. Although he put up some nice fantasy numbers, he averaged just 3.8 yards per carry, well below McGahee (4.4). Hillman wasn't much better than Moreno at 3.9, and apparently the Broncos don't trust him with the most important job for a running back in Denver these days -- picking up a blitz.
There's plenty of misinformation given out in the days leading up to the draft, but what Denver is saying speaks volumes about their future at running back. It doesn't appear to be on their roster right now.
--Andy Richardson