Rumor Mill: Broncos RB Javonte Williams on the Roster Bubble?

It's time to set the record straight on Javonte Williams' job security in Denver.

Sep 17, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams (33) runs the ball in the second quarter against the Washington Commanders at Empower Field at Mile High. / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Broncos have begun training camp, with the rookies having reported on Wednesday. The veterans will report on Tuesday, July 23, and three days later, the cleats will hit the grass at Broncos Park Powered by CommonSpirit.

The Broncos are in Year 1 of a rebuild under head coach Sean Payton. The team shed some big veteran salaries over the offseason, opening the way for a youth movement in the Mile High City.

As so often happens in the NFL, Payton's turn toward youth could lead to a few notable veterans ending up on the outside looking in when the training camp dust settles. In a Sports Illustrated roundtable, I was asked to pick a known veteran who could be on the roster bubble this summer.

I named running back Javonte Williams.

Entering a contract year on the heels of a lackluster 2023 campaign, Williams is feeling the heat. After a promising rookie year, he suffered a multi-ligament knee injury in ’22, and although he returned quickly and in time for the ’23 season, he was a shell of his former self. Meanwhile, the Broncos drafted a Williams clone in Notre Dame’s Audric Estimé and signed Blake Watson as a priority free agent. Message sent, loud and clear.

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To be perfectly frank, I've vacillated on the subject of Williams' job security this summer. While the Broncos definitely began planning for life after Williams by drafting Estimé and signing Watson, that doesn't necessarily mean the veteran's 2024 roster spot is in danger.

While his roster spot is under threat, Williams failing to make the final 53 is a long shot, especially with Estimé undergoing an offseason knee scope and Watson beginning training camp on the non-football injury (NFI) list. Since I originally submitted the above answer for this roundtable (weeks ago), the landscape at Dove Valley has shifted.

Both rookies the Broncos brought in now have health questions. Meanwhile, Williams is approaching the two-year mark from when he suffered that grievous knee injury.

'Pookie' didn't look like his true self last year, despite a rapid recovery and return to the field. It was very much a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust thing. But having that first season back after the injury under his belt, we could be in store for an enormous break-out season from Williams because he has a lot at stake in a contract year.

I could lie to you, and steel-man my roundtable take as if it's what I believe to be true to this day. But my opinion has changed on this subject, and I never lie to Mile High Huddle's readers.

Samaje Perine is more at risk than Williams. And if Estimé and Watson are unable to get healthy enough to compete during training camp and the preseason, the Broncos' running back stable could once again be the three-headed attack featuring Williams, Perine, and Jaleel McLaughlin.

A few notable veteran names on notice, for what it's worth, include the aforementioned Perine, wide receiver Tim Patrick, defensive lineman Matt Henningsen, safety Delarrin Turner-Yell, and cornerback Damarri Mathis. They're feeling the heat.

And when it comes to the Broncos' quarterback competition, it's unlikely the team keeps both Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson on the 53-man roster. Never say never, but it likely depends on which one acquits himself best during preseason action.

The oddsmakers currently favor Wilson over Stidham, for what it's worth. When it comes to the privilege of holding Bo Nix's clipboard, like 'the Kurgan' from the motion picture Highlander, there can be only one.

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