With the 139th pick of the 2008 draft, the Broncos took Torain, a rugged running back from Arizona State. Even though he was drafted in the fifth round, Torain has a legitimate chance to make an impact this season. He is a prototypical Broncos running back. He hits the hole quickly and he's a downhill runner. He fits in Denver's zone-blocking scheme.
When training camp opens July 25, Young will go in as the No. 1 back. He is followed by veteran Michael Pittman, recently signed from Tampa Bay, small playmaker Andre Hall and Torain.
Even though he is fourth on the depth chart, Torain shouldn't enter training camp feeling buried. No running back in Denver should ever feel that way. Both Mike Bell and Young came out of nowhere in the past two training camps and became big parts of the offense. The word inside the Denver organization is that Torain has performed well in minicamps and has picked up the running scheme quickly.
"This is a great place for any running back to be," Torain said. "This is the place you want to be. I know I have a long way to go. But running backs can and have done well here. I couldn't think of a better place to be. I'm ready to go for it."
Still, Shanahan maintained during minicamps that his running back crew may be a committee. In the past, Shanahan has been open to the idea, and he likes what he has in this group.
"We have good young players at running back," Shanahan said. "It is going to be interesting in training camp with a lot of good, hard competition. I like what I have in all my guys."
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