Willis McGahee happy to help fuel Denver Broncos' running game

With a new No. 23 jersey on his back and a football grasped tightly in his right palm, Willis McGahee shadowed running backs coach Eric Studesville at Broncos training camp Sunday afternoon.

During the 2 1/2-hour practice, McGahee never strayed far from the running backs. And each time starter Knowshon Moreno finished a play, McGahee gave him a high-five or a slap on the shoulder.

Denver, meet your new running back tandem.

"There's no more one-back systems here in the NFL," McGahee said, joking that he and Moreno could be nicknamed "Stallions and Horses."

"I'm just going to come in and do the best I can," said McGahee, 29. "I'm going to help him out, and whatever plays I can make, I'm going to make."

The Broncos signed McGahee, a former first-round draft pick from the University of Miami who played the first eight years of his NFL career with Buffalo and Baltimore, to a four-year contract Sunday morning after he passed his physical. He isn't allowed to practice until Thursday.

"This is a new beginning, a new start," McGahee said. "It's wide open right now."

Broncos head coach John Fox was adamant throughout the offseason that he wanted to add a running back in free agency to strengthen the team's running game. The Broncos hope to have a run-based offense this season, a switch from the pass-happy offense of the past few seasons directed by previous head coaches Josh McDaniels and Mike Shanahan.

At 235 pounds, McGahee has the potential to complement the newly slim Moreno, who arrived at Dove Valley weighing about 200 pounds. Moreno expects to remain the starter, but McGahee is considered a better runner between the tackles and in short-yardage situations, a serious weakness for the Broncos in recent seasons. Last year with Baltimore, as Ray Rice's backup, McGahee had only 100 carries. But he scored five touchdowns.

One of those touchdowns — a 30-yarder — came against the Broncos.

"Contrary to what people say, it's no indictment on Knowshon," Fox said. "If you've followed my coaching history, you know I've had two first-rounders at running back, and I believe you have to have two backs to be a successful run team, just to keep them fresh and energized and to get through 16 games running as much as we want to run it."

McGahee, who turns 30 on Oct. 21, joked that "30 is the new 20" — quoting the song title by rapper Jay-Z — and said he is in the best shape of his NFL career.

Studesville said the game film the Broncos watched of McGahee, who has rushed for 6,167 yards and 55 touchdowns and averaged 4.0 yards per carry during his NFL career, is enough proof that McGahee's legs have plenty of mileage left in them.

"He's a guy who has performed in this league and performed well. He brings depth to the room and he's a little different from Knowshon,"

Studesville said. "Know-shon is more of a slasher, he's quicker, a space guy. He brings a different dimension, which is something you have to plan for."

McGahee said Denver showed the most interest in signing him after he was cut by the Ravens on Thursday, two days after they told him that he would be released. Studesville, who coached him from 2004-06 with Buffalo, was a big part of that. In three seasons together, McGahee averaged 289 carries and 1,121 yards.

"He's probably the only coach that knows me," McGahee said. "He knows what I can do and what I can't do. He knows my attitude and he knows I'm going to prepare for the game. It's like, 'Welcome home.' "

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(denverpost.com)