Running backs have long been known as the work horses of the NFL, playing hard, fast and dirty for a relatively short period of time
These five former Broncos are the best of the best at what is arguably the most brutal position in the league. While their career statistics are perhaps unequal, it’s important to keep in mind the evolution of the running back from the inception of the league to now.
Still, at some point in their career, each of these guys were the best in the league. If you would have picked someone different, let me know.
(To check out the rest of our rankings, click here)
5. Otis Armstrong
Years with Broncos: 1973-80 (8 seasons)
Career Stats: 4,453 rushing yards; 131 receptions; 1,302 receiving yards; 32 total touchdowns
Career Accolades: 2-time Pro Bowler; 1-time First-Team All-Pro
Armstrong’s statistics may not be eye-catching, stretched across eight seasons, but keep in mind, NFL rushers in the 1970s played a different game than running backs today. Armstrong led the league in yards in 1974 with 1,407, and he did while simultaneously blocking for his backfield partner, Hall of Famer Floyd Little.
For much of his career, Armstrong was moved to fullback and charged with finding holes for Little to explode through. After Little’s snaps were reduced due to a November injury, Armstrong moved back to tailback and averaged 150 ypg in the final four weeks. Only OJ Simpson, Lawrence McCutcheon and Franco Harris broke the 1,000 yard barrier that season.
In Armstrong’s 1976 season, he compiled 1,008 yards and became a part of history as the Broncos reached their first Super Bowl.
Perhaps it was his grueling time as a fullback, but Armstrong was forced to retire at age 30, when his recurring spinal and neck pain became too much.
“It’s the life of a running back,” Armstrong said after his Colorado Hall of Fame Induction in 2014. “I don’t know a running back who doesn’t feel that way in the morning. Floyd (Little) and I have talked about it. But if we had it to do over again, we’d go right back out there.”
4. Clinton Portis
Years with Broncos: 2002-2003 (2 seasons)
Broncos Stats: 3,099 rushing yards; 71 receptions; 678 receiving yards; 31 total touchdowns
Career Accolades: 2-time Pro Bowler; AP Offensive Rookie of the Year
Though Portis played just two of his nine NFL years in Denver, he rushed for a third of his career yardage and nearly half of his career touchdowns during that time. In his first season, Portis earned himself Rookie of the Year honors for rushing 1,516 yards and finding the end zone 15 times. Four of those touchdowns came in a 31-24 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, where he set a record for the youngest player to score four touchdowns in a game.
Portis followed up his prolific rookie year with another 1,500+ yard season and another 14 touchdowns. That December, he bested himself, becoming the youngest player to score five touchdowns in a game.
Denver traded him four months later. Before you go retrograde crazy, remember that trade with the Washington Redskins brought future Hall-of-Famer Champ Bailey to the Mile High City. It is still recognized as one of the greatest and strangest trades in NFL history.
3. Mike Anderson
Years with Broncos: 2000-05 (6 seasons)
Career Stats: 3,822 rushing yards; 79 receptions; 647 receiving yards; 41 total touchdowns
Career Accolades: AP Offensive Rookie of the Year
Anderson’s most productive season was his first. Coming out of Utah, he compiled 1,487 yards and 15 touchdowns as a rookie, joining the Broncos just as the sun began to set on the legendary Terrell Davis’ career.
Anderson had to shine living out of the shadow of the greatest running back in Broncos history (spoiler alert). Though he never had another season quite like his rookie year, he earned the respect of his peers with a 1000-yard season in 2005 — a year after he suffered a groin injury that took him out of commission for the entirety of the 2004 season. In his first game back, he ran for 159 yards, including a memorable 93-yard dash to the end zone.
Anderson was traded to the Baltimore Ravens at the end of the 2005 season, where he played out two more years in the league but ran for less than 300 yards combined.
He obviously gave his all to the Mile High City. Thanks Mikey.
2. Floyd Little
Years with Broncos: 1967-75 (9 seasons)
Career Stats: 6,323 rushing yards; 215 receptions; 2,418 receiving yards; 52 total touchdowns
Career Accolades: 5-time Pro Bowler; 1-time First-Team All-Pro; Hall of Famer
Little is a member of the 2010 Hall of Fame class. I could probably just leave it at that, but that’s no fun, so let’s dive in.
Little rushed for at least 500 yards in all but three of his eight season, and in 1971, he won the league rushing title with 1,133 yards. He earned a ticket to the Pro Bowl four years in a row and another in 1973.
If you extend Little’s numbers to include his time as a returner and his prowess as a receiver, he amassed more than 12,000 all-purpose yards and 54 touchdowns.
Little’s career reads off like a statistical record book, because it was. But he was a family man and a humble spirit throughout his career. He said it took him five years to be able to see himself as an embodiment of the Hall of Fame mission statement “to honor the heroes of the game, to preserve its history, to promote its values and to celebrate excellence everywhere.”
1. Terrell Davis
Years with Broncos: 1995-01 (7 seasons)
Career Stats: 7,607 rushing yards; 169 receptions; 1,280 receiving yards; 65 total touchdowns
Career Accolades: 3-time Pro Bowler; 3-time First-Team All-Pro; 2-time AP Offensive Player of the Year; 1-time NFL MVP; 1-time Super Bowl MVP
While making this compilation of greats, the only player who was named across the board by football freaks and newbies alike is Davis. Next to John Elway, Davis’ name is the most well-known Bronco of all time — and for good reason.
In Davis’ 1995 rookie season, he rushed for 1,117 yards and only managed to improve in his next three seasons. In 1998, he reached the pinnacle of his career, with 2,008 yards and 21 touchdowns.
You will also remember 1997 as the year of Super Bowl XXXII, where Davis earned himself MVP honors, playing through a migraine to 157 yards and three scores. Migraines impair your vision and reduce most people to moaning lumps of agony in a dark room.
In Super Bowl XXXIII, Davis was responsible for 152 all-purpose yards and an integral role in a consecutive Lombardi trophy displayed in Denver.
Davis’ 1,140 rushing yards for an average and 142.5 yards per game in his playoff career is a team-record and he is known for performing highest while under the pressure cooker.
“I took pride in being at my best when the moment was big,” he said. “That’s one thing that I can live with. I don’t know how to compare stuff to players and whether I was the best in the game when I played. I just knew that for whatever my team needed me to do or whatever the coaches asked me to do, I think I delivered.”
His absence in Canton remains a mystery.