Mike Boone

Boone is poised to be the No. 3 running back in Denver for a second straight season, yet his circumstances in 2021 were less than ideal for him to have any substantive fantasy impact. The 5-10, 206-pounder missed the first five games in 2021 with a quadriceps injury and took a back seat to the one-two punch of Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams. In his limited time on the field, Boone rushed just four times for 25 yards and caught his only two targets for 22 yards. The speedster likely faces a similar role in 2022, but an injury to either Gordon or Williams could make Boone an intriguing play in a system that is committed to using multiple running backs.

An undrafted free agent out of the University of Cincinnati in 2018, Boone saw little work in the Vikings' backfield until the tail end of 2019, when he erupted for 232 rushing yards and three touchdowns the final three weeks. He didn't get a similar opportunity last year though, and left for what he hoped would be greener pastures in Denver over the offseason. The explosive athleticism Boone flashed in the predraft process has rarely turned into production on the football field, and he's mainly had to content himself with carving out a role on special teams in the NFL. And despite getting some guaranteed money on his new contract, Boone may again find himself relegated to special teams, after the Broncos drafted Javonte Williams in the second round to join Melvin Gordon in the backfield. A quad injury could force Boone to miss time early on this season, but when healthy, he profiles as the Broncos' No. 3 back, likely needing an injury ahead of him in order to see more than a few touches per game.

Boone operated as Minnesota's No. 3 running back for most of 2019, but he started the final two regular-season games with Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison sidelined. Boone had solid production for the season with 49 rushes for 273 yards and three touchdowns despite playing only 82 offensive snaps. The 2018 UDFA has performed well in his limited opportunities, but he'll likely remain in a reserve role for 2020 with Cook and Mattison again heading the backfield.

Boone posted a relatively obscure rookie season despite Dalvin Cook missing five games as the rookie saw action in just seven contests, totaling 11 carries for 47 yards mostly in mop-up duty. An absurdly productive Cincinnati pro day (4.44 40, 42-inch vertical, 139-inch broad jump) acts as an irresistibly tantalizing carrot for a team that doesn't exactly have a sturdy depth chart at running back - with injury-prone Dalvin Cook manning the top position and 2019 third-round pick Alexander Mattison potentially factoring in as a goal line back. Boone figures to compete with Lions castoff Ameer Abdullah and last year's undrafted free agent Roc Thomas for the No. 3 role.

Boone was dynamite his first two years at Cincinnati, torching Bearcats opponents for 1,399 yards (6.8 YPC) and 18 touchdowns in his first 20 games. Unfortunately, his production fell off a cliff in his final two seasons, totaling just 851 yards (4.0 YPC) and six touchdowns in 19 games while struggling to stay healthy. Foot and ankle troubles plagued him consistently over that stretch. You can't just wave away durability concerns, especially when complemented by inadequate production, but Boone's trajectory reminds somewhat of Elijah McGuire's. McGuire was off to a blazing fast start at Louisiana-Lafayette before chronic foot issues weighed him down, but he had better luck with the Jets last year. Aside from his promising early-career production, Boone's strongest selling point is his athletic testing. He lit up Cincinnati's pro day with a 4.44 40-yard dash, 42-inch vertical, 139-inch broad jump, and 6.95-second three-cone, and that broad jump especially is a remarkable figure. Dalvin Cook has a long history of injury troubles and Latavius Murray isn't known for his durability, either, so keep an eye on both Boone and Roc Thomas this preseason to see if one claims that RB3 role in Minnesota.