Tag: Jaleel McLaughlin

ESPN suggests Broncos could trade for pass-catching running back

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes the Broncos could target a pass-catching running back ahead of the NFL trade deadline.

The Denver Broncos traded pass rusher Baron Browning to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday, and more moves could be on the way.

Broncos backup quarterback Zach Wilson and tight end Greg Dulcich will be names to watch leading up to the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes Denver could also add a player ahead of the deadline.

“It wouldn’t shock to see the Broncos comb the market for a pass-catching running back,” Fowler wrote on ESPN.com. “Coach Sean Payton has always coveted those change-of-pace backs, which harks back to the Darren Sproles days.”

The idea of Payton wanting a receiving back is certainly plausible, but it’s hard to imagine there being room for another RB in Denver’s offense. Payton has repeatedly said this season that it’s hard to feature more than two RBs.

Javonte Williams remains the team’s workhorse back and Jaleel McLaughlin has been the change-of-pace back. Audric Estime got a career-high five carries on Sunday and Tyler Badie could return from a back injury at some point this season.

If Payton does bring in a running back, he might have to ship out a current RB to make room. We’ll track any potential moves on Broncos Wire.

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Ravens vs. Broncos: Top photos from Baltimore’s 41-10 win in Week 9

Top photos from the Baltimore Ravens 41-10 win over the Denver Broncos in Week 9 at M&T Bank Stadium

Denver entered the game 5-3 with the NFL’s third-ranked defense, but the Baltimore offense shredded them, as Vance Joseph’s defense surrendered 396 yards and five touchdowns on the afternoon.

The Ravens are 6-3 after a 41-10 win over the emerging Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium.

Here are the top photos from the win.

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Lamar Jackson finished with perfect passer rating as Ravens demolish Broncos 41-10

Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson finished with a perfect passer rating in Week 10 as the Ravens defeated the Broncos 41-10

The Ravens spent all week talking about removing the taste of an ugly loss to the Browns in Week 8. John Harbaugh’s team responded solidly, dominating the upstart Broncos 41-10 at M&T Bank Stadium.

Denver entered the game 5-3 with the NFL’s third-ranked defense, but the Baltimore offense shredded them, as Vance Joseph’s defense surrendered 396 yards and five touchdowns on the afternoon.

With talk about Josh Allen potentially winning MVP, Jackson completed 16 of 19 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday, marking his fourth perfect passer rating.

Derrick Henry finished with 101 yards rushing and two touchdowns, moving past Barry Sanders for 10th on the all-time touchdowns list and going over 1,000 yards for the sixth time in his career.

Zay Flowers had another 100-yard game, finishing with 127 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

On defense, Zach Orr’s unit surrendered 319 yards, including 197 passing and, most importantly, just ten points.

Baltimore will now prepare for Cincinnati on a short week and Amazon’s Thursday Night Football.

WATCH: Broncos QB Bo Nix throws TD pass to Jaleel McLaughlin

Bo Nix’s fourth touchdown of the game gives the Broncos a 28-7 lead over the Panthers in the third quarter.

Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to running back Jaleel McLaughlin the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers.

Here’s video of the play, courtesy of the team’s official Twitter/X page:

Following that score, the Broncos now lead the Panthers 28-21.

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Broncos RB Audric Estime activated from injured reserve

The Broncos activated RB Audric Estime from the injured reserve list to the 53-man roster. He’s expected to serve as RB3 on Sunday.

The Denver Broncos activated running back Audric Estime (ankle) from injured reserve to the 53-man roster on Saturday, the team announced.

Estime (5-11, 227 pounds) injured his ankle in the team’s season opener against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 8. After sitting out the last four games, Estime became eligible to return ahead of a Week 6 showdown with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Estime will now return to serving as the team’s third-string running back behind Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin. Blake Watson will presumably be a healthy scratch again now that Estime has returned.

Denver picked Estime in the fifth round of this year’s NFL draft out of Notre Dame. He rushed twice for 14 yards and one first down in his NFL debut.

The Broncos also promoted safety Tanner McCalister from the practice squad to the 53-man roster on Saturday. The team had room for Estime and McCalister on the active roster after placing center Luke Wattenberg and wide receiver Josh Reynolds on injured reserve.

Denver’s game against Los Angeles will be regionally televised on CBS. Despite playing at home with a three-game winning streak, the Broncos are considered underdogs against the Chargers this week.

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WATCH: Broncos QB Bo Nix throws TD pass to Jaleel McLaughlin

Bo Nix throws a short TD pass to Jaleel McLaughlin and the Broncos now have a 10-point lead over the Raiders!

Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix threw a four-yard touchdown pass to running back Jaleel McLaughlin in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Here’s video of the play, courtesy of the team’s official Twitter/X page:

Following that score, the Broncos now lead the Raiders 20-10.

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Broncos place RB Tyler Badie on injured reserve

The Broncos placed RB Tyler Badie (back) on injured reserve, ruling him out for at least four games.

The Denver Broncos have placed running back Tyler Badie (back) on injured reserve, the team announced Saturday. Badie must now sit out at least four games. The earliest the running back could return would be a Week 9 road game against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 3.

Badie (5-8, 197 pounds) suffered the back injury when he was hit from behind by linebacker Quincy Williams in the first quarter of last week’s 10-9 win over the New York Jets. After going to the sideline, Badie went down on the ground and was later placed onto a backboard, loaded into a cart and taken into the locker room.

Badie rushed 11 times for 86 yards and four first downs and hauled in three receptions on 21 snaps in three games before his injury. Before this season, Badie had one rush and a 24-yard touchdown catch with the Broncos in 2022 (he spent last season on the practice squad).

The Broncos have Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin as their top two backs and rookie Blake Watson is also on the active roster, but he was a healthy scratch for the first four games. Next week, fifth-round draft pick Audric Estime will be eligible to return from injured reserve.

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Javonte Williams and Broncos’ ground game are back on track

Javonte Williams averaged 4.8 yards per carry in Week 4. “He has the ability to be one of the best in the league,” Garett Bolles said.

After struggling through the first three weeks of the season, Javonte Williams and the Denver Broncos‘ ground game finally got back on track against the New York Jets in Week 4.

Williams rushed 16 times for 77 yards against the Jets, averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Jaleel McLaughlin added nine carries for 46 yards (5.1 YPC). That’s the kind of production Denver hoped to see from its backfield this fall.

Bronco coach Sean Payton credited the offensive line following a 10-9 win over the Jets.

“Well, I thought the key started up front,” Payton said Sunday. “We got to some six holes, seven-hole wide zones, we got to some duo schemes, we brought them. We knew analytically this was a team that’s better in coverage and you had a little bit more susceptible, if you will, in the run game. Know we hit a couple traps, I could tell the lineman felt like at halftime that, ‘Hey, just keep [running ]’ – well that’s easy too when it was as wet as it was. Ultimately though when it dried up, we were going to have to make a play or two in the passing game. But those guys up front, I think were the key.”

Garett Bolles, Denver’s left tackle, is always eager to open up running lanes.

“He’s a special back,” Bolles said of Williams. “He has the ability to be one of the best in the league, but we need to open up holes and show his talent and that’s what we did today. I’m just grateful for Ben (Powers), Luke (Wattenberg), Quinn (Meinerz), ‘Palco’ (Alex Palczewski), everybody that we had up front we just grinded it out and our backs found the running lanes and hit the holes, and we knew what we needed to do today.”

The Broncos finished the day with 126 rushing yards, their second-best total of the season. Sunday was a step forward, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

“I thought Javonte and Jaleel played well yesterday,” Payton said Monday. “Meinerz got a game ball. I thought we were physical. It was a messy first half. It was difficult with the conditions, and yet that’s just the way that game unfolded. That’s still a work in progress, and I want it to rest on their shoulders too. Especially late in the game.

“We [had] a chance late in the game really with the final play on third down. Before we attempt the field goal, we can ice it there with a quarterback kind of crack sweep and we just didn’t get the blocks we needed. We’re building on that, and I think it’s going to be important for us going forward.”

Up next for Denver is a home game against the Las Vegas Raiders, who have allowed 137.5 rushing yards per game this season. Williams and Co. will look to keep the momentum going in Week 5.

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Will the Broncos give RB Tyler Badie more carries this week?

After making the most of his limited opportunities, Broncos running back Tyler Badie deserves more carries.

Denver Broncos starting running back Javonte Williams had a quiet day on the ground against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, rushing five times for 12 yards with a terrible 2.4 yards per carry average. Jaleel McLaughlin’s average (1.4 YPC) was even worse as he rushed five times for seven yards.

Denver’s offense got a spark in the fourth quarter when Tyler Badie entered the game and made the most of his opportunities. Sticking with the hot hand, Broncos coach Sean Payton gave Badie all seven carries in the fourth quarter against the Bucs and the 24-year-old back totaled 70 yards on the ground.

“He’s been really decisive,” Payton said of Badie. “He’s had some big runs for us. He’s smart. He knows the system. He’s good in the passing game, he brings a lot.”

Badie only played in two of the team’s three games this season, but he leads the team’s running backs in yards (86) and yards per carry (8.6). Badie has a small sample size of just 10 carries, but he’s earned the right to get more opportunities. Denver’s staff seemingly agrees with that assessment as Badie was promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster this week.

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“He played great Sunday,” quarterback Bo Nix said of Badie’s performance in Week 3. “He provides extra depth for us at back. He’s just another one of those guys in the backfield that can provide explosive plays. We’re happy to get him and continue his production.

“At the same time, Jaleel and Javonte are going to continue to do what they do and what makes them great. I think we have a really good running back group right now.”

Nix, understandably so, gave a diplomatic response about the backfield, but fans want to see more from Badie. It is worth noting that Williams remains the team’s best pass-blocking running back. Badie is also two inches shorter and, more importantly, 23 pounds lighter than Williams. So Badie probably doesn’t have the size to emerge as a workhorse back, but could he be more involved going forward?

“We’ll see,” Payton said when asked what kind of role he envisions for Badie. “He’ll be kind of — we’ve taken three backs to a game and we’ll kind of continue to mix up the roles based on what we’re doing.”

Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi hinted this week that the team is not giving up on Williams or McLaughlin despite their poor numbers.

“Obviously Tyler got in there and had the big run, and he’s a guy that we really like,” Lombardi said. “[But] the run game is one of those things where not every run is going to be a 20-yard gain, and you stick with it, thinking you know the players that you have. Just because the stats tell you that they’re not gaining a bunch of yards doesn’t mean that they’ve all of a sudden turned to crap. So you just keep handing them the ball and know that we’ll keep getting better, the plan will keep getting better and we’ll keep blocking better. Their big runs are coming.

“It’s just like anything, it’s tempting when you’ve run the ball a few times early and you’re not gaining yards and just say, ‘To heck with this, we’re just going to start throwing.’ The run game is one of those things that if you stick with it, you’re going to start busting some runs. It’s just a patience thing and just getting better when we do run it.”

Badie was the team’s third-string running back in each of the last two games with rookie Blake Watson being a healthy scratch. Williams, McLaughlin and Badie figure to remain the three RBs dressing on game days. How the touches are divided up among them remains to be seen.

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Broncos fans call for Tyler Badie to start after impressive performance

Should the Broncos make Tyler Badie their new starting running back?

Denver Broncos running backs Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin continue to struggle to make things happen on the ground.

McLaughlin had a nice juke on a touchdown run against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, but he finished the game with a 1.4 yards per carry average. Williams was only slightly better with 2.4 YPC.

Tyler Badie (“bidet“), meanwhile, got opportunities in the second half and made the most of them. He ripped off a 43-yard run in the fourth quarter and finished the game with nine carries for 70 yards with an impressive 7.8 YPC average.

Broncos fans and pundits have taken to Twitter/X to call for Badie to be the team’s starting running back going forward.

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After a 26-7 win over the Bucs, Denver coach Sean Payton was asked about Badie making the most of his carries.

“Yeah, look, I’m used to – right, wrong or indifferent – it’s easy to work two backs into a rotation; it’s hard with three,” Payton said. “It’s hard to feed three. He’d been practicing well.

“There were a handful of [plays ] – ‘Bad 21,’ we just abbreviate his tags B.A.D… ‘Bad 12’ – there were a handful of plays designed with his name on it and then he’s running well and so he gets some more plays, but we’ll keep working that combination. I was pleased that we were able to run the ball.”

After Sunday’s performance, Badie seems likely to have more involvement on offense in the coming weeks.

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