Henry eager to carry the load

Denver hopes it finally possesses a durable, go-to guy

Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News

Thursday, August 9, 2007

ENGLEWOOD - The word being thrown around most when it comes to describing Travis Henry is authority. And in banging between the tackles and delivering blows in training camp, he's seemingly got that quality covered.

The bigger question is whether the Broncos' new running back can muster the requisite power in another realm:

Staying power.

In a quirk perhaps never duplicated in league history, four times during the past four years the Broncos have had running backs surpass 1,000 yards only for them to be gone the next offseason.

And not since Clinton Portis, the first of that group, left in a blockbuster trade that netted the team All-Pro cornerback Champ Bailey has there been someone seemingly equipped to be a fitting bookend to the legacy established in Denver's backfield in the mid- 1990s by Terrell Davis.

Injuries caught up to Mike Anderson. Reuben Droughns ran hard but was a converted fullback who wasn't a burner. And Tatum Bell, though quick as they come, didn't consistently demonstrate the requisite toughness between the tackles the coaches wanted.

So, in comes Henry in free agency, trying to satiate head coach Mike Shanahan, running backs coach Bobby Turner and the rest of the organization's desire to hang its hat on one player to carry the load and, in a sense, the offense, for the long haul.

"It's a mystery to me as well, because you would think that same person would stay there," Davis said. "But I also think that Mike (Shanahan) and Bobby Turner look at these guys, and they want more from them. Even though you rush for 1,000 yards, they didn't feel they could get more out of these players."

Davis noted that when a bum knee forced him to limp away from the game in 2002, it was his feeling that Portis would carry his mantle and break his records.

But you don't pass up arguably the game's top defensive back for Portis. Part of that haul, too, was a draft pick that turned out to be Tatum Bell, part of the fill-in-the- blanks situation since.

"Mike and Reuben are good running backs," Davis said. "They're buddies. I like them. But those aren't guys that they're going to have to stay up at night and say, 'I have to stop this guy. He does not get loose,' " Davis said. "You've got to have a dominant running back. I don't care what offense you're in. You need a guy that's going to bring it every time and is the pillar of the offense. It's fine to have a guy in there who can fill the void or come in and play well and do it admirably. But you have to have a stud, man.

"And Travis is a stud."

Henry's ability to stay healthy with Denver might determine whether that claim rings true. In his three seasons in which he has started at least 13 games, he has put up rushing totals of 1,438, 1,356 and 1,211 yards with the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans. But a fractured right leg ruined his 2004 season after 10 games and 326 yards. An ankle problem and league suspension in 2005 limited him to nine games and 335 yards.

To date, Henry's career high in carries is 331, in 2003 with the Bills. Davis had three straight seasons with more attempts, peaking at 392 in his MVP 1998 season. But no Broncos running back has approached one-man-show status since. Anderson came closest during his 2000 rookie-of-the-year season with 297 attempts.

"This is the first time Denver has gone out and gotten a back of my caliber in free agency," Henry said. "That's not to say if I don't produce, I'm not up and out of here. I know I've got to produce."

With Tatum Bell, the leading team rusher in 2006, with 1,025 yards, the Broncos did a statistical breakdown and discovered his production slipped significantly with more work. His rookie season, he averaged 6.0 yards a carry on his first 10 attempts; 2.9 after that. The totals were 5.0 and 3.6, respectively, last year.

So a tandem with Mike Bell, and before that, Anderson, was deemed a necessity.

"Travis hasn't been 100 percent durable, but he's built (5- foot-9, 215) for durability," Broncos general manager Ted Sund- quist said. "And we have such a finger on the pulse about what we want to do in the running game that I don't think we'll wear him out.

"That said, he's got the body to last. Now, it's not that some of the others didn't, but to be quite honest, Tatum wasn't built like a Travis Henry. And I feel (Henry) understands what we're trying to do - he's built to last and our coaches know how to use guys."

One difference between now and Davis' heyday is that the Broncos have gone to great lengths to have a backup runner who brings a similar skill set, rather than a scat-back type as a change of pace. So the Broncos don't necessarily have to have one back take all the carries, as Davis once did.

"I'm up for the challenge," Henry said. "Three hundred- plus rushes, whatever they decided to give me, I'm with it. I like to get it. If I need a blow here or there, I understand. But the more I get the ball, the better."

During his career, Henry has averaged 4.8 yards an attempt on carries 11-15; 4.3 on attempts 16-20 and 3.6 thereafter. But only 53 of his 1,321 career carries have come after the 25-carry threshold, which offers some evidence as to why he believes he's destined to become a true workhorse for the first time.

It has created some perhaps unrealistic expectations from fans, family and friends who have told him he's destined for a 2,000-yard rushing season.

Only five players in NFL history have done that.

"If I don't get over 1,500 yards, it will definitely be a disappointing season for me, and I know it will be for them, too," Henry said. "If I'm running 1,500-plus, that means we're winning games and we're in the playoffs and we're shooting for something big. Anything less, that ain't good enough."

His predecessors know something about that.

"The thing I like about him is he runs with a low center of gravity," Davis said. "He's hard to bring down, hard to see. He can get yards after contact.

"I think he'll be there solidly until he decides to hang 'em up or there's an injury problem. But I think he'll be the guy there for a while."

rasizerl@RockyMountainNews.com