Mile High Report
Last week, the Texans surprisingly waived running back Dameon Pierce, and many in Broncos Country, including myself, thought he would be a good fit for the Broncos. He ended up clearing waivers and was free to sign with anyone. Unfortunately, he would end up signing on to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad, but according to reports, the Broncos did show plenty of interest.
According to 9NEWS Denver’s Mike Klis, the Broncos “were in strong” on Dameon Pierce and were in on him until the very end, but he decided to sign on to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad.
As Klis mentions, this isn’t a huge surprise. With JK Dobbins out for the year with a Lisfranc injury, the Broncos currently do not have a power back that can consistently run between the tackles on the roster. Rookie RJ Harvey can do that, but he’s at his best when he’s in space or bouncing runs outside. Meanwhile, Jaleel McLaughlin, Tyler Badie, and Deuce Vaughn are all undersized backs.
Pierce would have solved this issue and given the Broncos a bigger back they could call on in short-yardage and goal-line situations. In the end, he decided to sign with the Chiefs, and the Broncos will now have to look elsewhere for a power back if they want to add one to the roster.
The problem the Broncos will face is that there isn’t much available right now. Clearly, they do not want to add a back to their 53-man roster; otherwise, they could have just claimed Pierce and could still theoretically sign him off the Chiefs’ practice squad. However, they do not seem inclined to that so whoever they add would likely have to land on their practice squad. That leaves veteran street free agents like Jamaal Williams and maybe Gus Edwards, but who knows if they want to play or are even in shape to play at this point.
In the short term, it appears the Broncos will move forward with RJ Harvey and Jaleel McLaughlin as their two main backs. Last week vs. the Chiefs, we saw McLaughlin handle the red zone carries, so unless they add a back to the roster in the coming days, I believe that will be the plan moving forward vs. the Commanders.
