Williamson: Will Devontae Booker excel as Denver's lead back?

Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns, and spent the last 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast."

A knee injury is expected to cost C.J. Anderson a few weeks and potentially much longer, though some of those fears were alleviated with Thursday's report that an MRI revealed he doesn't have a torn ACL.

Regardless, the Broncos' backfield is rookie Devontae Booker's job for the foreseeable future.

Anderson has run well this year, but Booker has been eating more and more into his playing time. In fact, Booker out-snapped Anderson in Week 7, although that might've had a lot to do with the status of Anderson's knee in a game that Denver had complete control of over the Texans.

While Kapri Bibbs is currently the backup, there's no doubt Booker is the lead back now in Denver. He looks ready for the promotion.

Gary Kubiak's system is a very friendly one to quarterbacks and running backs alike and Denver's head coach is one of the league's best offensive minds. A high percentage of Denver's runs are zone-based and Kubiak devises the passing game, with a lot of designed quarterback movement and play action, from his usually potent rushing attack.

The blocking has been much better this year. Matt Paradis is a star in the making at the center position. He has been spectacular this year and is clearly Denver's best lineman. Flanking him, Max Garcia and Michael Schofield have been more than serviceable, but the tackle position has been somewhat subpar, and downright terrible when Ty Sambrailo has been called into action.

While the line is probably about league average, that is an upgrade from Denver's five-man Super Bowl unit. But two other key members of this running game that don't get talked about have been instrumental in the success of the Broncos' ball carriers. Virgil Green missed some time, but he is a very accomplished blocker. But it's been Andy Janovich who has just simply excelled in leading the way for Anderson and Booker.

While Booker only has 51 rushing attempts as a professional and has a nasty habit of putting the ball on the ground, which goes back to college for him, the support system is very much in place for him to thrive while Anderson is sidelined. Booker has some similarities to recently retired Arian Foster, a player that had tremendous success with Kubiak in Houston.

Booker is a glider with a smooth gait, but also has strength and power. He also exhibits the ability to cut hard against the grain and shows very good vision. He was drafted clearly with this system in mind and fits it extremely well.

With those 51 carries, Booker is averaging an impressive 4.8 yards per carry and that average isn't skewed with a long run or two in such a small amount of attempts, as Booker's longest run of the season is only 17 yards. While he won't ever be a home run threat, he's consistently gaining nice chunks of ground.

Booker is a sustainer. Kubiak will take that all day long, but it's hard to say how the rookie will respond to a consistently heavy workload. Booker also has short to intermediate receiving skills, which Trevor Siemian should find to his liking.

Denver's rushing attack has some favorable matchups over the next few weeks. While Booker isn't as accomplished a runner as Anderson, he has the traits you look for as a lead back in Kubiak's system. Anderson's injury, however long it keeps him out, shouldn't put a big dent in the Broncos' aspirations of repeating as champions.