Tradition Tuesday: Born To Run

I spent Father's Day not playing golf with my dad (he went to the wrong course) and having dinner with my father-in-law. And talking sports, apparently this is one holiday that gets a free pass when me and my father figures are allowed to go nuts on jock talk and The Wife doesn't shoot laser beams out of her eyes.

My dad isn't a big football guy. He watches the Broncos every week but refuses to live and die with the team, which is fine for him. He likes the NBA and the Spurs, but that series was so short and miserable we couldn't muster much enthusiasm or conversation out of it. He does dig on some auto racing, and you'll be subjected to much more of this later.

My father-in-law, on the other hand, is almost as big on the stick-and-ball games as I am. He's a huge baseball fan who follows the Cardinals, an Arizona State alum keeping tabs on the College World Series, and an absolute maniac when it comes to the Broncos. After a little baseball foreplay, we hammered out first hardcore NFL discussion since the Draft, and I came out of it with one conclusion:

Travis Henry is the key to the 2007 season.

There are many moving parts here, and many things that could go wrong. There are a dozen players who, if injured, could sink the season. The perpetual issues of pass rush and the return game are still there. There's a virtual rookie quarterback who could still go either way in his development. And the schedule contains dangerous trips to Indianapolis and Chicago as well as the standard vicious division battles.

But the potential is there for the old running game to resurface, and if the Broncos can get back to the magic number of five yards a carry as a team I think great things could be in store. The team hit averages of 5.0 and 4.8 in Portis' two years at altitude, but that's dipped to 4.4, 4.7 and 4.4 in the three years since his trade to Washington. The starters in those seasons have had nowhere near Portis' explosiveness.

Now Travis Henry is no '03 Portis either, but he does give the team a more skilled rushing option that the Bell/Bell combo of '06. I am by no means a Tatum Bell hater, and I do think his poisoned relationship with Coach Shanahan stifled his productivity as much as his constant injuries, but my observation was that the kid couldn't hit a hole. The Broncos O-Line has diminished in productivity itself, but I think the gaps were there last season and the Bells simply didn't hit them.

LT Matt Lepsis will return and hopefully maintain his health all season. George "Bust Of The Century" Foster's spot at RT might go to CSU product Erik Pears, Adam Meadows or rookie Ryan Harris. The inside will be ably manned by Ben Hamilton, Tom Nalen and the Chris Kuper/Montrae Holland platoon. These guys are getting older and were, save for Nalen, never that dominant to begin with. But The System is still The System, and they will cut and trap with precision and open those seams. The question is, Can Henry capitalize?

Before we get to him, I'd like to hit on the biggest addition to the Broncos' running game, and it's neither a back or a lineman. Dan Graham got hisself a big measty contract as a free agent, and the ex-Pat is known as one of the best blocking tight ends in the business. Combined with Tony Scheffler the in two-TE sets the Broncos will employ with regularity this season, Graham will wreak havoc with opposing linebackers and safeties on running plays. If Henry can find his crease and reach the second level, he'll find a slew of defenders unable to tackle him, because they will have been levelled by Dan Graham.

Now, to Henry. He's had three good seasons in his six years in the league: '02 and '03 in Buffalo and last year in Tennessee. His other seasons were tainted by injury and/or lack of opportunity. The composite average of those seasons is 309 carries for 1335 yards (4.3 per carry) and 10 TDs. Neither the Bill nor the Titans in those years had what you could call even an average NFL line, so I think you can bump Henry's stats by at least 10 per cent.

But can the team get its YPC back up to 5? The change-of-pace back is Mike Bell, who's not a home run threat. Jake Plummer, always a threat to scramble for a first down, is no longer in the mix. It's essentially up to Henry to hit the number on his own, and he hasn't done that since his last year at the University of Tennessee.

Should the running game coalesce and make the mark, this offense and team will fly. A dangerous ground attack will speed up Jay Cutler's development immeasurably, and give Javon Walker and Brandon Marshall much more room to roam. It will keep the defense off the field and allow Jim Bates' scheme more margin for error. Man, gameday at Invesco is really nice when the home team is running the football. The girls are prettier. The beer is colder. And Banky is extra grumpy. If God is, in fact, a Broncos fan, those orange sunsets will see Travis Henry to five yards a rush and the division is ours.