When you follow an NFL team, and have been a fan since you were born, the weekends in the fall hold special meaning. When the team you follow hasn't had a winning season since 2016 when they finally get over the top guaranteeing their first winning season in 9 years it feels pretty good. Then injuries bring you back down to earth. Injuries are a fact of life in the NFL, and teams getting injuries towards the end of the season is also a harsh fact in the NFL. Running back Jaleel McGlaughlin hurt his quad during the Colts game game, and didn't practice on Monday. Usually this wouldn't be that big of a deal, but the Broncos play the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night in LA. The Broncos and Chargers are currently battling for playoff position so Denver needs all of it playmakers available to play.
The Denver Broncos offense has been a bit on an enigma this season. Going into the year anyone who was paid to analyze the game would tell you that the Broncos were severely lacking playmakers on the offensive side of the ball. To be clear, any offensive player in the NFL is a playmaker, but there are players in the NFL who have the ability to potentially score every time they get the ball. Those guys are not exactly rare, but they are common either. Going into the year it was clear that the two playmakers on the Broncos offense were Jaleel McGlaughlin, and Marvin Mims. Each of those two players have the ability to make people miss, and then once they make you miss can out run everyone on the field to the endzone. It also seemed like Sean Payton was starting to give McGlaughlin the majority of the carries on offense essentially making him our #1 back over Williams, and Audric Estime. With the playoffs coming up the Broncos will absolutely need McGlaughlin to be at full speed. This is the perfect time of the year to give Blake Watson his first real chance in the NFL regular season.
Who is Blake Watson? Blake Watson is a running back from the University of Memphis that the Broncos paid the most out of any undrafted free agent they picked up. Prior to the draft Watson was being talked about a 3rd-6th round guy. He isn't the biggest guy at 5'9 and 195lbs, but he is a guy presents a low center of gravity, and is hard to bring down. He is another very explosive player running a 4.3 40 yard dash in the combine, and the other thing that I think could really make him stand out in this offense is his ability to catch the ball. I would say Watson is a back who is just as explosive as McGlaughlin, but might run harder between the tackles. I have been hoping Watson got his chance all year because I think he could be a hidden gem. I never want see a player get hurt, but that is the nature of football. If for some reason Jaleel can't play I really hope Blake Watson gets his chance.
