It may be all for naught but January is for sitting before a crackling fire with a warm mug of a favorite drink and doing some mental rehashing of the past Bronco seasons and also doing some "what if" dreaming for the upcoming year.

My thoughts turned to how much a great running game enhanced the Bronco offense. Willis McG brought back respect for the missed McD choice on Knoshon! Kim Constantinesco over at Predominantly Orange
wrote about how Mcgahee and the freshness of his legs for his age may be attributed to his being a compliment to Ray Rice in the Raven backfield.

( http://predominantlyorange.com/2012/01/20/willis-mcgahee-needs-relief-in-broncos-backfield/ )

The article also mentioned the need for McG to have help in churning out heavy ground yardage. The Steelers were nearly caught flatfooted on the pass to D.T. due to the Bronco whole game tendancy to run on first down.

Included in the article was a list of upcoming free agent RBs and one name particularly caught my eye. A five yards at a time RB with three LBs hanging on for the ride. A 1200 yard rusher in 2009 who is being treated like yesterdays soiled laundry by his current team regarding a contract extension. A powerhouse runner who suffered from the Madden curse this past season. I am talking about the guy that McD dumped because he didn't fit into the Josh plan. Yep, non-other than, you guessed it, PEYTON HILLIS will be a free agent soon.

Even if, Timmy T. does not blossom as a pocket passer in 2012, I can envision the Hillis smashmouth running style coupled with the McGahee style (who takes that fraction of a second to look for and quickly see where his avenue into the secondary lies) tearing up and tiring out defenders and setting up new opportunities for those sparingly used deep passes that reap great rewards. The John Fox run, run, run and then run some more game style would fit both McG and the human tank from Arkansas to a successful "T". Mr Hillis makes a living delivering TD's in short yardage Red Zone situations. We certainly need that.

I hope the EFX combine has Mr. Hillis near the top of their list. Can you imagine that duo in the backfield with Timmy at QB/FB. Opposing DC,s would have nightmares.

I am hoping we get to see Peyton Hillis again wearing orange and blue for the Broncos next season.! By the way, he can catch a pass too !