Should the Broncos Pay or Pass in 2020 – Running back Devontae Booker?

The Broncos have a lot of interesting decisions to make this offseason in regards to free agency. Before they decide on which ones to target from other teams, Denver must first look at its own players who are set to hit the open market.

Heading into the offseason, the Broncos have 14 players who are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents in 2020. At the end-of-season press conference, Broncos general manager John Elway said the Broncos are going to wait a month before they start evaluating their own players.

“That gives us more time to do it the right way. Rather than doing it on a personal side, because the coaches get connected with (players). I think you get a better objective view when you get away and you’re able to go back and look at it individually,” Elway said.

In the meantime, let’s take a tour through the list of players the Broncos need to make a decision about. During the next few weeks, I’ll take an in-depth look at Denver’s pending free agents, answering a simple question: Should the Broncos pay to keep them or take a pass, letting them head into free agency.

Next up…

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DEVONTAE BOOKER
Running Back

The Broncos selected running back Devontae Booker out of Utah in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Booker was a player I thought could go in the second round because of his hard-charging style and ability as a receiver out of the backfield. The Broncos were able to wait and get him in the fourth round, which seemed like a tremendous value pick at the time.

In fact, there was buzz that the Broncos were considering Booker in the first round that year. As defending Super Bowl champions, Denver had the last pick in the first round (No. 31 overall, as New England had a pick taken from them for DeflateGate). They were able to move up to No. 26 overall for Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch, but there was speculation that if they were not able to do that, they would have just taken Booker to close out the first round.

Instead of pouncing on him when he was there in the second round, the Broncos continued to wait. They picked defensive end Adam Gotsis in the second round and safety Justin Simmons in the third round. On the final day of the draft, they had enough and took Booker off the board.

Booker began his pro career with the Broncos with a brash proclamation. He created headlines heading into his rookie training camp by saying he wasn’t there to carry shoulder pads, he was there to take someone’s job. That someone was former Broncos starter C.J. Anderson – and Booker did not take Anderson’s job. Instead, Booker played primarily as a backup running back until Anderson was lost for the season in Week 7 against the Texans.

In that game back in 2016, Booker had 17 carries for 83 yards and one touchdown. It looked like perhaps it was going to be his time to shine for the Broncos as the lead back the team had envisioned when they selected him in the draft. Instead, that ended up being the highest rushing total in a single game that Booker would get in four years with the Broncos.

As a rookie, Booker ended up losing the starting job late in the year to veteran Justin Forsett and finished his first pro season with 612 rushing yards (3.4 yards per carry) and 265 receiving yards. In 2017, Booker was once again a reserve back behind Anderson and didn’t come close to matching the numbers he posted as a rookie.

In 2018, Booker was a reserve runner behind Phillip Lindsay. And in 2019, he barely saw the field on offense, logging only 26 snaps on offense in what could be his final season in Denver.

Should the Broncos pay or pass? Let’s take a look.

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Positives

Booker is a swift back who can get to top speed in a hurry. When he builds a head of steam, Booker is tough to bring down. He’s not afraid of contact and has the leg drive to power through arm tackles to break off longer runs.

He does have limitations as a runner, but Booker is fantastic as a receiver. Booker has great hands and does a good job of snatching passes out of the air with arms extended naturally away from his body. He can catch passes out of the backfield, smoothly transitioning to running after the catch, but Booker can also line up in the slot and run receiver-like routes underneath.

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Negatives

Don’t ask Booker to make decisions with the ball in his hands as a runner. While he can be described as a hard-charging back, Booker is not nuanced when running the ball. The Broncos have utilized a zone-blocking system for most of Booker’s career in Denver and that’s not a fit for his skill set.

In zone blocking, a running back must make a decision as to where to go with the ball based on how the defense is flowing in front of him. This doesn’t fit Booker’s straight-ahead style and in fact works against him in a big way. Instead, Booker needs to be in a power/gap system that creates a clear rushing lane and path for him to follow. Booker has also been banged up with various injuries during his time with the Broncos.

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The Market

Running backs like Booker don’t get paid that much. And they certainly don’t get long-term deals. Booker made $950,000 in the final year of his rookie deal in 2019 and he may not get much more than that on the open market.

With his skill set, Booker could attract some attention from teams looking for a pass-catching threat out of the backfield. In fact, Booker’s game is similar to that of veteran running back T.J. Yeldon. In 2019, Yeldon signed a two-year, $3.2 million contract with the Bills. The deal included a $500,000 signing bonus with $500,000 in guarantees and an annual average salary of $1.6 million.

That kind of contract could be within striking distance for Booker. Like Yeldon, Booker is a big-bodied back who can thrive as a receiving back. Yeldon didn’t do much for the Bills in 2019, appearing in only four games and working as a reserve back behind Devin Singletary and Frank Gore.

Booker’s age may be held against him in contract negotiations. He will be 28 years old later this year and teams may not be too thrilled about paying an older back that kind of money. Booker took six years to get from high school to the pros and that made him an older rookie when he came into the league back in 2016. For example, Yeldon came into the league in 2015 (second-round pick, Alabama) and is about a year and a half younger than Booker.

If the Broncos want to keep Booker, it’s not going to take a huge investment.

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The Verdict

The Broncos need help in the backfield. Under new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur they need to have running backs on the roster who can catch consistently out of the backfield. Even though Booker is a fantastic receiving back, his time in Denver may have come to a close.

The Broncos need to pass on Booker.

Some things just don’t work out as planned and that’s the story for this veteran running back. Booker was a favorite of the Vance Joseph coaching staff and he did just enough to earn a roster spot last year under Vic Fangio, but it’s time to move on. He is an older back and things just haven’t worked out for Booker here in Denver. It’s past time to let him go and see what kind of talent is out there in free agency or starting in the middle rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft.

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