As the Denver Broncos start training camp with positional battles at quarterback and running back, a potential key contributor this upcoming season could miss Week 1.
Mike Florio over at Pro Football Talk is reporting that second-year running back Devontae Booker is expected to miss 6-8 weeks with a wrist injury.
Booker, 25, was expected to vie with veterans C.J. Anderson and Jamaal Charles for the starting job heading into the 2017 season. That’s obviously no longer going to be the case.
A fourth-round pick out of Utah back in 2016, Booker was uneven as a rookie. Despite struggles on the ground from other running backs, the youngster put up just 174 rush attempts. He averaged a pedestrian 3.5 yards per rush.
This injury has a direct correlation to the rest of Denver’s running backs. Signed as a free agent this past spring, Charles was not guaranteed to make the 53-man roster. Now that Booker is out until potentially through the start of the regular year, it seems Charles’ job is safe.
Whatever comes of Denver’s running back situation, it must improve off what we saw last season. That’s only magnified with a questionable quarterback duo set to duke it out during camp.