Denver Broncos: C.J. Anderson Ready to be Every-Down Back

The Denver Broncos will have a much different looking offense in 2016, but they will need one of their players to be even better if they wish to succeed.

The biggest storyline of the offseason for the Denver Broncos has been surrounding their quarterback situation. The retirement of Peyton Manning and departure of Brock Osweiler to the Houston Texans left President John Elway scrambling to find a suitable replacement.

Related Story: Roster and Depth Chart Predictions

Elway made the decision to trade for Mark Sanchez and then drafted Paxton Lynch, who the organization will hope to groom like they did with Osweiler. Neither quarterback option should give the Broncos’ offense a whole lot of confidence going into the season, but they will have talented weapons around them.

In the passing game, the Broncos have one of the best duos at wide receiver in the NFL with Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. Having two very good wide receivers should help Sanchez and or Lynch play to the best of their abilities, but they will also have the luxury of a strong running game.

In the past two seasons, the Broncos have been using a combination of Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson at running back. In 2014, it was Anderson who was the leading rusher of the two, as he totaled 849 rushing yards compared to 434 rushing yards for Hillman. Hillman missed half of the season in 2014, as he was only able to play in eight games. The strong performance from Anderson made it appear that he was going to be the workhorse in 2015, but it was Hillman who bounced back with a nice season instead.

More from Denver Broncos

• Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
• Denver Broncos: Russell Wilson, offense beginning to heat up
• Denver Broncos’ wide receivers already suffering injuries
• One free agent Denver Broncos can’t live without before 2023 season
• 2023 NFL Season: Buying or selling offseason buzz for teams

Last season, Hillman was the leading rusher for the Broncos during the regular season, as he totaled 863 rushing yards. Anderson wasn’t far behind that number, as he totaled 720 rushing yards. In each of the last two seasons, Anderson has had a better yard per carry average than Hillman, but consistency has been his biggest issue.

One of the main reasons why Hillman had more carries than Anderson in 2015 was his horrible start to the season. It took up until November 1^st against the Green Bay Packers for Anderson to total more that 50 rushing yards in a game.

More from NFL Spin Zone

• Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
• Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
• Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
• Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
• Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens

Anderson would perform better after that game against the Packers, but he really got into his groove heading into the playoffs. In the final two games of the regular season, Anderson totaled 73 rushing yards on nine carries against the Cincinnati Bengals, and then he totaled 95 rushing yards on 15 carries against the San Diego Chargers.

In the playoffs, Anderson continued to run the ball well, as he totaled 72 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots, and then had 92 rushing yards against the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl.

Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak is expecting a big season from Anderson in 2016, as he is in great shape this offseason.

must read: Who are the 30 greatest running backs of all-time?

The Broncos will certainly need a strong running game in 2016 if they want to repeat as Super Bowl Champions. Anderson has been a key piece in the Broncos’ success, but they will need him to be even better in 2016 to help make it easier for the quarterbacks.