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Broncos RB
Mike Anderson
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Cover your ears because the cliché alarm is about to go off at maximum volume:
Sometimes the best trade is the one a team doesn’t make.
Such is the case for the Denver Broncos. During the offseason, the hot rumor was that
the Broncos might trade RB Mike Anderson, despite the fact he rushed for an astonishing
1,487 yards last season.
Trade him? The Broncos should embrace him. The Broncos should make him their
first-string running back.
The etiquette police will have none of that, however. The etiquette police say that a
starter should not lose his job because of injury. The etiquette police say that when said
starter is healthy enough to play again, his starting job should be waiting for him like
the morning paper at your doorstep.
I say the etiquette police should stick to what they know, things such as sticking your
pinky finger out when drinking tea, which fork to use to eat your salad at fancy
restaurants and what color wine goes with your entrée. In case it isn’t clear,
I’m no fan of the etiquette police. I don’t drink tea, I prefer a joint where I
can get a greasy burger to a four-star restaurant and I think beer beats the heck out of a
bottle of your finest wine. Burp.
Sure, I’ll hold the door open for my wife. I’m not a total lost cause. But
when it comes to the NFL, the etiquette police should be banished to Siberia as far as
I’m concerned.
A starter should get his job back when he returns from an injury? Only if he can earn
it back, bub. On the field of play, the NFL stands for No Freaking Loyalty. If college
professors live by the motto "publish or perish," then the equivalent for NFL
players is "produce or perish."
The salary cap dictates as much. The short shelf life of NFL players dictates as much.
The small window of opportunity to compete for a Super Bowl dictates as much.
Which brings me back to the Broncos’ three-headed monster at running back,
otherwise known as Davis, Anderson and Olandis Gary. Once upon a time, Davis was an
unstoppable force of nature for the Broncos. Defenses simply could not contain him. Then
he blew out his knee in 1999 and had a difficult time staying on the field last year. Gary
replaced Davis magnificently in ’99 but got hurt in the 2000 season opener and was
done for the year. Anderson, an unheralded rookie, stepped up big time in 2000 and saved
the Broncos’ season.
During this offseason, the Broncos were faced with the kind of dilemma every team
wishes it had. In essence, they had three starting-caliber running backs but only one
starting job.
For some reason, Anderson was the one everyone figured was the most likely to be
traded. I predict that before this season is over, Denver fans will thank their lucky
stars that Anderson was never moved to another team. I say that Anderson is the answer to
the question of whom the Broncos should hitch their wagon to this season.
Blasphemy, say the Davis fans. Anderson’s upside is not as high as the production
Davis gave Denver at the height of his greatness.
I don’t deny that, but guess what, folks? Davis is unlikely to see those glory
days again. The man who rushed for 2,008 yards in 1998 is gone. He is a memory. A
wonderful memory, but a memory still the same. The Terrell Davis of today is like a dam
springing leaks everywhere. His hamstring acts up. His knee is degenerative. Davis insists
these matters are no big deal, and maybe he is capable of being a great story, a proud
warrior who can beat the odds. Maybe not. Where there’s smoke, there often is fire.
More often than not, when a back of Davis’ age is starting to break down, the glory
years are not recaptured. Even the brightest optimist must agree that Davis is no sure
thing.
Neither is Gary. After all, he blew out his knee last year. History says that if he is
to regain complete confidence in his knee and return to full effectiveness, it’s more
likely to be next year than this year. Like Davis, it is not impossible for Gary to be
highly effective and consistently healthy in 2001, but it’s also not a sure thing.
The closest thing the Broncos have to a sure thing is Anderson. He is the only one
whose physical status does not concern me. OK, OK. I’ll grant you that until Anderson
does it again, he is a one-year wonder who must be viewed a bit suspiciously. He was only
a sixth-round draft choice, after all. That said, the Broncos’ track record is that
they can find backs in later rounds and get a ton of yards out of them behind a wonderful
offensive line.
I think it is far more likely that Davis or Gary will struggle to regain his form and
stay healthy all season than it is that Anderson will stop being effective.
This does not mean that I think the Broncos should make a trade. They should keep all
three backs. Imagine if they trade Gary and the football gods then decide 2001 is
Anderson’s year to blow out a knee. Imagine even further that Davis struggles to
regain his old form. How ludicrous would it be for the Broncos, the deepest team in the
NFL, to flush their Super Bowl hopes because they traded out of a position of strength.
Keep all three. Give Anderson the ball the most, but keep Davis and Gary involved if
their health and production justify it. This plan keeps everyone fresh, but it
doesn’t place the point of emphasis on guys whose health might not allow them to do
the heavy lifting.
If Davis can return to greatness, more power to him. Give him the ball under that
scenario. But I have my doubts that he can turn back the clock. Just make him earn it.
Don’t make him the go-to guy because of what he once was. Don’t make him the
starter because it’s the right thing to do.
There’s no place for sentiment when there’s a Super Bowl to pursue. Such
sentiment is fine outside the world of sports. In the coldhearted, win-now NFL, however,
you know what I think that kind of sentiment is?
Bad etiquette. |
