LaMichael James should hope the Broncos take him in the 2nd round

By Bart Batey

LaMichael James is lookingfor a new team after ending his prolific career in the Oregon Ducks’ backfield.The Denver Broncos are looking for a new running back, with Willis McGaheebeing 30 and Knowshon Moreno coming off a torn ACL and a DUI arrest. Jamescould offer great value when the Broncos pick 25^th in the secondround, assuming he lasts until then.

James’s draft stock shot up after he ran a4.45 second 40-yard dash at the combine, tying him for second among runningbacks. Speed like that could help turn Denver’s offense, which led the NFL in three-and-outs in 2011, become more explosive.

James is a back who can instantly be a threat on third down. He would provide explosiveness, which the Broncos have lacked in the backfield since Tatum Bell,who last played extensively for Denver in 2006.

Denver’s last two third-downbacks have been Correll Buckhalter and Knowshon Moreno. Buckhalter was a solid blocker and receiver, but lacked the speed James possesses and Moreno shows good hands, but struggles with blocking and injuries.

The comparison betweenJames and Darren Sproles is overused, but that’s because there are somesimilarities between their games. Both are small (Sproles is 5’6” and 190pounds, James is 5’8” and 194 pounds), fast, and work well in space. While not the best receiving back coming out of college, James had 51 catches and 4receiving touchdowns in his college career. James can certainly upgradeDenver’s third down offense.

Third down capabilities aside, James can be a starting, every-down runningback. Undersized speed backs can still be found starting all over the league.Jamaal Charles, Chris Johnson, and Jahvid Best all fit this mold.

James is durable enough to be a starting NFL RB.

James reminds me of Warrick Dunn. Dunnwas a fast back with durability concerns due to his size (5’9”, 187 pounds) thatended up with 2,669 career carries for nearly 11,000 yards. Along with MichaelVick, Dunn helped lead the Falcons to three straight rushing titles, from 2004to 2006. James has shown similar durability in college. Dunn’s career high incarries was 286 and James carried the ball 294 times during his sophomoreseason. While at Oregon, James has also shown good toughness and the ability torun between the tackles. For these reasons, James looks like he could be much more than just a third down running back.

The learning curve for James in Denver's offense would be minimal because of his experience out of the zone-read spread in Chip Kelly's offense at Oregon. Denver used the zone-read consistently in 2011 with Tim Tebow at quarterback. 

Additionally, Tebow would be a great compliment to James in the backfield because he would take pressure off of James because defenses would have to account for both James' and Tebow's ability to run the ball. James would not take as many big hits in the backfield because he wouldn't be the sole target of a rush defense. As a result, injuries would be less of a concern if he went to Denver. Just like Warrick Dunn did in Atlanta, James would have a mobile quarterback that would take some of the heat off of him.

The Denver Broncos have a great opportunity to draft an impact player if LaMichael James is available when they pick in the second round. James can instantly provide third down production while possibly developing into a starting runningback along side Tim Tebow. LaMichael James would be a great fit for the Denver Broncos, and the Broncos would be a great fit for James, especially if Denver is committed to Tim Tebow as the starting quarterback.