Larry Brown Sports

Apologies to anyone who listened to our advice to pick up running back Ronnie Hillman during the week with the expectation that he would start for the Denver Broncos. John Fox pulled a fast one on all of us.

Knowshon Moreno, who is a former first-round pick but has been a bust for Denver, surprisingly got the start on Sunday for the Broncos against the Kansas City Chiefs. He actually performed well, rushing for 85 yards on 20 carries and adding four catches for 26 yards. That was after amassing just 15 yards on eight carries the entire season (he had been a healthy scratch since Week 2).

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported before the game on Sunday that Moreno was getting the start because he’s the best of the three backs in pass protection, and because he had a good history against the Chiefs. Hillman only carried the ball three times for nine yards.

Though there is some admitted uncertainty at the Broncos running back position, it now appears as if Moreno is the one to own with Willis McGahee out. Keep in mind that Moreno frequently gets injured, so if you did pick up Hillman, try to keep him on your roster if you have an extra spot.

You can keep up with Knowshon Moreno news at his Rotoworld page.

Michael Bush‘s situation is a lot more straight-forward. Bush saw carries early for the Chicago Bears against the Minnesota Vikings, and then he took over every down after Matt Forte re-injured his ankle in the third quarter. Bush finished with 21 carries for 60 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears.

Bush is a load at 245 pounds and is a durable back. We know from his past with Oakland that he can handle every-down duties, so he should make for a good pickup. Monitor the status of Forte’s ankle to know what kind of workload you can expect Bush to have next weekend against the Seahawks.

When players receive constant praise and recognition during training camp, it generally is an antecedent to a successful season. Running backs Darren McFadden, Rashard Mendenhall, and Knowshon Moreno fit that bill, so they’ve turned me into believers.

Darren McFadden has missed some of training camp because of a fractured orbital bone, but when he’s practiced he’s turned heads. Raiders beat writer Jerry McDonald recently wrote that it “Doesn’t matter how much [McFadden] practices. No one else close.” Oakland offensive coordinator Al Saunders said McFadden was in the same class as Priest Holmes, Marshall Faulk, and Marcus Allen. Head coach Hue Jackson has said McFadden is one of the most complete and elite runners in the NFL. When that many sources agree on something, it generally means something.

Rashard Mendenhall hasn’t received the same amount of praise as McFadden, but he’s received extremely positive reviews. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he thought Mendenhall still had room to grow even with his successful past two seasons. Running backs coach Kirby Wilson says there’s nothing Mendenhall can’t do and that he has a bright future. National writer Dan Pompei says Mendenhall “showed up to camp in ‘wow’ shape.” He also says that Mendenhall is more comfortable now that he’s in his fourth year with the team. Pompei says Mendenhall is out to make people recognize him for his play, not his bin Laden comments.

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Three weeks after getting thoroughly embarrassed at home by the Oakland Raiders, the Denver Broncos (partially) redeemed themselves with a 49-29 beating of the Kansas City Chiefs. Denver was up 21-0 by the end of the first quarter getting three straight touchdown passes from Kyle Orton. They led 35-0 midway through the second quarter and essentially had the game over well before halftime, proving that the Broncos’ coaches made excellent use of the bye week.

Kyle Orton, Knowshon Moreno, and Brandon Lloyd put up stats and made plays like they were John Elway, Terrell Davis, and Rod Smith. Orton hit Brandon Lloyd with a 37-yard pass down the middle on the team’s opening drive, setting up a touchdown four plays later. Lloyd caught the pass in traffic and had to dive for the ball making an incredible catch. Lloyd also hauled in a six-yard touchdown on their next drive, and he rounded out his terrific afternoon with a 15-yard touchdown catch in the 4th quarter. The 8th-year receiver from Illinois finished with 90 yards on six catches and two touchdowns, missing out on his 6th 100-yard game of the season by 10 yards.

Though the passing game exploded against Kansas City, the running game got going too. Second-year running back Knowshon Moreno had his first career 100-yard game, rushing for 106 yards on 22 carries. Moreno also took a short pass from Orton for a touchdown on the opening drive and finished with 50 yards receiving on three catches. Kyle Orton’s final stat line was 22/34 for 296 yards and four touchdowns. I have no idea what got into Denver in week 10, but their receivers were making spectacular catches and everything seemed to be working. I won’t get carried away here, but they looked pretty darn good. And having Knowshon Moreno healthy makes a huge difference for this team.

Photo Credit: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; AP Photo/Joe Mahoney

My cousin Knowshon Moreno became an LBS favorite during his college career at Georgia for some spectacular plays he made (check em out if you haven’t seen them). Unfortunately, since leaving school early and being drafted in the first round last year, things haven’t worked out too well for Moreno as a pro.

Moreno started off last season entering camp late because of contract negotiations. Once in camp, he promptly sprained his knee which weakened his ability the first few weeks of the season. This off-season, he partially tore his hamstring, though the injury did not seem to bother him the first two games of the year. On Friday, Moreno hurt his other hamstring with a partial pull.

Moreno has already been ruled out for Sunday’s Broncos/Colts game. The shocker here is that a week after acquiring Laurence Maroney from the Patriots, the former Golden Gopher will likely be toting the rock for the orange and blue. Pats fans were always disappointed with Maroney for a number of reasons.

Entering this season, Maroney was on the hot seat because of fumbling issues he had last year. Then he hurt his groin which buried him further down the depth chart. Throughout his career, ribs, groin, and knee problems have bothered Maroney. The entire 2008 season was a disaster when Boney was placed on injured reserve early in the year because of shoulder injury. Clearly the man has had health issues, but for some reason I still believe he can be a decent back.

In Denver’s offense, they pass the ball so I wouldn’t expect any 100-yard games for Maroney, but he’s competent enough to get 80 combined yards and a score. Hopefully he can live up to the price Denver paid to get him (a 4th round pick). He has a good chance to perform against a weak Colts run defense on Sunday.

Just as I went berserk over Knowshon Moreno’s amazing touchdown runs and hurdles over defenders, I feel like I must also pass along the times when he gets crushed by a defender. I was watching live when this hit happened and thought it sounded just as bad as it looked. Turn up the volume for this crack laid on Moreno by Tennessee’s Eric Berry. You might want to skip ahead to the :35 second mark.

What’s shocking is how good Georgia’s running game was even when Moreno was knocked out of the game. Caleb King finished up the drive and looked great on some of his runs (even if his final numbers indicate otherwise). Still, Moreno better get his head straightened out quickly — the Dogs have Vandy, LSU, and Auburn in the next three weeks. Any wonder why it’s nearly impossible to escape the SEC unscathed?

I’ll be quick to admit that I’m not a huge college football fan and that my knowledge and enjoyment of teams and players is far more limited compared to my level of enthusiasm for other sports. That being said, I’m a huge fan of Knowshon Moreno and began to notice his brilliance last year during his freshman campaign. The guy is big, strong, runs fast, runs hard, can juke, can hurdle, can run you over — he’s the whole package. He’s a fantastic collegian and I expect him to be an incredible pro. If you don’t see what I’m talking about, then you need to check out the video of him hurdling the Central Michigan defender in the middle of a run. Well Knowshon just about performed an encore, scoring the first touchdown of the game against Arizona State, a nine-yard touchdown run in the 2nd quarter. Check it:

That dude was parallel to the ground he was so horizontal. He got like four or five feet of air on that one. Was he trying to score a touchdown or was he trying to set an Olympics record in the high jump? Moreno could probably give Adrian Wilson and Joey Gathright a run for their money. Interesting little tid bit: Moreno means “Brown” in Spanish. I think we’re distant cousins.

I will not hesitate to say that this is one of the coolest plays I’ve ever seen during a football game. The actual still of the play is the one that does it the most justice. Honestly, just seeing the still, you figure there was something fake about Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno’s leap, but the video confirms it actually happened on the field. Now if you’re wondering why you didn’t see this play until days after Georgia romped Central Michigan, it’s because FSN left the play out of their highlight feed they sent to ESPN (according to the folks at Bristol). If you’re Mark Richt, it’s because you think ESPN has an anti-Georgia bias. I can buy ESPN’s excuse, but now that they know the video’s available, they should be running the play. As for the FSN person who composed the highlight melt, how did you leave that play out? That person should be looking for a new job because they obviously have poor judgment. Anyway, here’s the elusive video of the crazy play.

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