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Despite rushing for only a handful of games that broke the 100 yard thresh mark, the Broncos matched the offer sheet given to C.J. Anderson by the Miami Dolphins this past free agency period, which will could net him $18 million dollars if he proves his worth over the next four seasons.
The Broncos' commitment to Anderson signified how much John Elway, Gary Kubiak and the rest of the coaching staff felt about the fourth-year veteran running back's potential. He figures to be a big piece in the teams' winning formula that will pay big dividends and hopefully net them a second straight Lombardi Trophy.
Elway on @cjandersonb22: "We've seen what C.J. can do and we have a lot of confidence in C.J. The key thing for him is to stay healthy."
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) July 27, 2016
But with high compensation comes high expectations and there is no doubt that it's time for Anderson to show his coaches and teammates he has what it takes to ascend to the top ranks of running backs league wide.
On today's airing of The Afternoon Drive, Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro brought on NFL Insider Mike Silver to discuss the opening day of training camp festivities and focused early on Anderson.
According to Silver, Anderson is 'metaphorically hungry' for the 2016 season and has set lofty goals for himself. He noted that he had worked on his conditioning and dropped a decent amount of weight in order to be in top shape this year.
He stated that Anderson understands the expectations those have of him and is very, very motivated to show everyone what he is capable of. As far as goal setting, Anderson would like to be a Top 5, perhaps even Top 3 or the league's best rusher this season according to Silver..
With the ambiguity at the quarterback position, it is believed that the Broncos will employ a heavy rushing attack in 2016. Further evidence to suggest this is found with the teams' drafting of Devontae Booker and Andy Janovich this past April.
Whether or not Anderson can live up to high standards remains to be seen, but his diligence and preparation so far this off-season demonstrates he is doing all the right things in order to perform at the highest level possible.
Bonus Listen
Later in the show, Goodman and Shapiro brought on former hard-hitting Broncos safety Nick Ferguson to talk about the differences between OTA's and training camp, as well as several other topics.