Willis McGahee Takes Over As Denver's Red Zone Back

At one point before the 2011 season began, the Denver Broncos looked as though they wanted to change up the running game and bring in John Fox's former running back in Carolina, DeAngelo Williams. Williams went on to receive over $20 million in guaranteed money from the Panthers, a bit too much for the Broncos to compete with. The Broncos then turned their eyes to Willis McGahee.

Formerly of the Baltimore Ravens, McGahee looked like an attractive option, as he looked like a good complement to Knowshon Moreno. McGahee served as the red zone back in place of Ray Rice in Baltimore, a role he would take over with the Broncos as well.

Saturday's preseason game against the Buffalo Bills confirmed that McGahee will be heavily involved when inside the opponents' 20-yard line. McGahee picked up two touchdowns in the first-half of that game. He picked up a one-yard touchdown run and then followed that with a 13-yard touchdown reception.

As running backs coach Eric Studesville said recently (via the Denver Post):

"The good run teams have that ability to run the ball in the situations when they want to run the ball," Studesville said. "They have to have those guys who can convert opportunities into touchdowns."

The Broncos clearly lacked that over the last two years, but especially in 2010. With McGahee in the fold, the Broncos can return their running game to prominence and control the pace of the game.

For more on the Broncos, visit Mile High Report.

Willis McGahee will be a Denver Bronco for the upcoming 2011 season. After a deal was reportedly finished on Friday, that turned out to not be the case. But on Saturday night, McGahee agree to a four-year contract, according to ProFootballTalk. The deal is supposedly worth around $10 million.

The original deal that was reported had McGahee signing for three years and $7.5 million. He was expected to receive about $3 million in guarantees, but there are no reports currently of what his signing bonus is with this deal.

McGahee will have old running back coach Eric Studesville with him, as Studes holds that position with the Broncos. McGahee is likely to steal snaps from Knowshon Moreno in the red zone, something he did while in Baltimore. Moreno is still expected to be the starter, but McGahee will certainly see his fair share of playing time out of the red zone as well.

For more on the Broncos, visit Mile High Report.

Despite reports that the Denver Broncos had agreed on a three-year contract with free agent running back Willis McGahee, no deal is in place and it could be a little while until there is a final decision As the Denver Post reports, team sources refute that a deal is in place, but that doesn't mean the team won't wind up signing him to a deal, likely according to the terms previously released.

The report also mentions that the Broncos will look at hosting three running backs and have them take physicals before any deal is reached. No word, though, has come out on who those players are (McGahee likely one of them).

Knowshon Moreno looks and feels better at the start of training camp, but he'll need someone to complement him even if he is much improved. The days of the workhorse running back are dwindling.

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Not so fast on the Denver Broncos agree to a deal with Willis McGahee on Friday. While early reports had the two sides agreeing to a three-year contract, it now appears that no deal is done. According to the NFL Network's Jason La Canfora, the Broncos are going to bring in a number of running backs over the weekend for workouts. McGahee will be part of that group, but he is not a Denver Bronco ... yet.

This could, of course, be a smokescreen leading up to the 4 p.m. MT start time for players to sign their new contracts. League rules prevent players from signing their contracts until then (and they can't practice until Aug. 4, the first day of the new league year).

Whatever the outcome of this running back situation, the Broncos do need to add an additional running back to complement Knowshon Moreno.

For more on the Broncos, visit Mile High Report.