Following Sunday's overtime win over the Cleveland Browns, it appears that the Denver Broncos have found themselves a starting running back. Ronnie Hillman gained 111 yards on 20 attempts while a struggling C.J. Anderson put up just 41 yards on 13 attempts.
This definitely draws a line in the sand between Hillman and Anderson. Denver entered Sunday's action with the league's 30th-ranked rush offense at just 71.6 yards per game. For his part, Anderson came into the game averaging just 2.6 yards per attempt.
The fact that Hillman out-carried Anderson by seven should be telling here, especially with Peyton Manning continuing to struggle (three interceptions). Despite boasting a 6-0 record, the Broncos simply can't rely on Manning to win a game for them anymore. This makes it a necessity for the team to find some balance on offense.
Entering the bye, it will be interesting to see how Denver handles this situation. It could very well go with a committee approach like we saw Sunday. But with Anderson's lack of production through six games, it wouldn't be terribly surprising to see Hillman acquire a vast majority of the touches moving forward.
Based on what we saw against Cleveland, that makes Hillman a solid RB2/FLEX option as the season draws on. Though, we might want a larger sample size to lock that in.