Is Denver Broncos Offense Better with Ronnie Hillman at RB?

The Denver Broncos offense has been trying to get the ground game jump-started this year. So far, the team has struggled to find consistency when running the football. The team has been one-dimensional on offense most of the year, but that all changed this week as they seemed to find balance offensively.

In their Week 4 win over the Minnesota Vikings, the Broncos had their best day on the ground—including their first 100-yard rusher of the year.

Ronnie Hillman finished the game with 11 carries for 103 yards. His big play was a 72-yard touchdown run in the second quarter against the Vikings. He didn’t do much the rest of the day, but that one play was enough to energize the offense—and change the way the defense was playing against the Broncos.

Quarterback Peyton Manning described the play after the game.

“It was a toss play. With Ronnie, I love when he gets in the open field, he has that breakaway speed. It was nice to get him a chance to break away and take it down the field for a long touchdown. It’s definitely a deflating play for a defense," Manning explained. "It was really good to see that and was a great play by Ronnie.”

Is the offense better with Hillman at running back? Let’s take a look.

Season Stats

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Over the course of the year, Hillman has outproduced Anderson as a runner even though he’s the backup and plays fewer snaps. Combining rushing and receiving yards together gets these two closer, but it’s Hillman who still has an advantage over Anderson.

Player	Snaps	Att	Yds	Rec	Yds
C.J. Anderson	163	43	117	7	57
Ronnie Hillman	97	39	191	2	8

The snap count is interesting to look at here. Anderson’s snaps have clearly gone down each week (57, 42, 35, 29) for the Broncos. At the same time, Hillman’s snaps are staying about the same (17, 31, 24, 25). On average, Anderson is playing about 40 snaps per week while Hillman is steady at about 24 snaps each week for the Broncos.

So long as both backs remain healthy, this could be the formula each week going forward.

Explosive Plays

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The better offenses in the league have explosive playmakers who can rip off big gains on any snap. An explosive play has differing definitions, but in this article we are going to look at plays (rushing or receiving) which gained 10 yards or more.

So far in 2015, Hillman has three explosive plays—most notably his big 72-yard touchdown run against the Vikings. That run tied for the fourth-longest in team history, and it certainly sparked the Broncos offense on Sunday.

By comparison, Anderson has four explosive plays this year. His longest play from scrimmage also came against the Vikings as he caught a pass and scampered for a 27-yard gain in the first quarter. His longest run of the season was a 14-yard gain on the first offensive play against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2.

Player	Game	Yardline	Description
C.J. Anderson	Week 2 vs KC	own 20	Run for 14 yards (first down)
	Week 2 vs KC	own 38	Run for 11 yards (first down)
	Week 4 vs MIN	own 37	Catch for 27 yards (first down)
	Week 4 vs MIN	opp 38	Run for 13 yards (first down)
Ronnie Hillman	Week 1 vs BAL	own 19	Run for 11 yards (first down)
	Week 2 vs KC	opp 35	Run for 16 yards (first down)
	Week 4 vs MIN	own 28	Run for 72 yards (touchdown)

Looking over these numbers, both backs have shown the ability to gash defenses. They need more room to run in order to make more of these explosive plays happen in 2015.

Between the Tackles

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Hillman is an explosive player, but he’s not the type of back to be a battering ram between the tackles. This limits the type of carries he can take for the offense.

Anderson runs with a low center of gravity, and his powerful lower body can grind out tough yards inside. He has good vision, and Anderson will find a cutback lane if one develops when he’s toting the rock.

Looking over the numbers, 147 of Hillman’s 191 yards rushing have come before contact. Hillman has only pushed for 44 yards after contact his year, good for an average of 1.13 yards after contact per rush.

Anderson has only 49 of his 117 rushing yards before contact. However, after contact Anderson has pushed for 68 yards. That’s good for an average of 1.58 yards after contact per rush.

The league average for yards after contact to this point of the season is 82 yards and 1.81 yards after contact per rush. This shows that both runners are below average in terms of NFL standards in this category.

Receiving and Pass-Blocking Ability

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Protecting Peyton Manning is priority No. 1 for the Broncos. A back who struggles protecting the passer isn’t going to see a lot of time in obvious passing situations.

Anderson is the preferred back in this category.

Player	Routes	Targets	Rec %
C.J. Anderson	64	10	70.0
Ronnie Hillman	26	3	66.7

While Hillman’s lack of size makes it difficult for him to stand strong against the pass rush, Anderson has the size and low center of gravity to stunt oncoming defenders. Simply put, Anderson has the better physical makeup to take on pass-rushers. By limiting Hillman in pass protection, the team is also preventing him from taking an extra beating and wearing down without touching the rock.

Anderson has soft hands and does a good job of snaring off-target passes. After the catch, Anderson has shown the ability to swiftly pick up extra yards and fall forward after contact. Hillman is dangerous in space, but he doesn’t see a lot of time as a receiver out of the backfield.

Postgame Quotes

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After his big game against the Vikings, Hillman was the center of attention in the locker room. When Hillman first came into the league, he didn’t seem comfortable talking to the media. On Sunday, Hillman is able to hold court with the media and answer questions confidently.

Hillman felt the team needed a big run to spark the running game.

“Yeah, you always feel like you need something to spark the running game," Hillman noted. "This week it was just that me and [RB] C.J. [Anderson] got tired of everyone trying to tell us that we can’t run the ball. It was just our time.”

When asked about his satisfaction in getting the running game going, Hillman praised his team instead.

“You just have to credit that to the leadership of this team," he said. "You have guys that come here every day and being young you watch them and you just learn. You have to definitely applaud the leaders of this team, getting these guys rallied to be this kind of team that has a big set of you know what.”

Hillman would not reveal the cause of the problems in the rushing attack heading into this game.

“You can’t be pointing fingers," he explained. "I think that it is good for our team and as a unit, you can’t point the finger that anyone.”

Summary

Hillman has been more productive as a runner this year. He’s averaging almost five yards per carry, while Anderson isn’t averaging even three yards per carry this year. Hillman can make explosive plays happen regularly, and this is a fine asset for the team—especially when the Broncos can catch defenses off guard.

Anderson is used a lot more than Hillman in the passing game. He’s proved to have sure hands and can make difficult grabs with a defender closing in on him. Anderson is the better back in pass protection, and that gives the Broncos confidence to keep him in on most passing downs.

After the Vikings game, head coach Gary Kubiak revealed if Hillman’s performance would move him up the depth chart and into the starting position.

"No, we'll keep going. We're going to play them both," Kubiak said. "I think they were pretty much split down the middle carrying the football. Obviously, Ronnie's big play is a huge play. I think they both improved over the course of this past week.”

Kubiak continued, “We banged pretty good on Thursday and I think they responded as players. We ask a lot of them and I think they're starting to respond. Hopefully we took a step in the right direction today running the ball."

This Broncos offense is better with a healthy Anderson on the field, but that toe/ankle problem from Week 1 might still have lingering effects. In the meantime, the Broncos are happy to get a spark from Hillman to help energize the team.

All quotes and injury/practice observations obtained firsthand. Record/statistical information provided via the Broncos' media department unless otherwise noted. Advanced stats via ESPN's employees-only database.

Contract and salary-cap information provided by Spotrac. Transaction history provided by Pro Sports Transactions.