Last updated September 15th, 2006

Last updated September 8th, 2006

Tony Richardson, the bruising fullback who spent five seasons plowing holes for Priest Holmes in Kansas City, is itching to do the same for Chester Taylor.

If Taylor gets the opportunity, Richardson said he’s confident Taylor can put up Holmes-like numbers…

The Holmes comparisions are seconded by wide receiver Travis Taylor, who’s been reunited with Chester Taylor after their short stint in Baltimore from 2002-2004.

“There’s definitely a lot of Priest Holmes in Chester,” he said. “He’s a guy who can catch balls out of the backfield, make guys miss, run guys over, make big plays. When we were in Baltimore, he always converted a lot of third downs for us out of the backfield. It could be third and 15 and he’d get 17 yards. That’s what kind of a back he is.”

Blitz View: The comparisions to Priest are premature, but with Tony Richardson at fullback and an upgraded offensive line in Minnesota, don’t let Taylor slip your mind.

Rookie underdog Mike Bell has earned the #1 spot on the Broncos depth chart after being completely ignored in the NFL draft.

Today, Bell is the story of the city, the state and the NFL, after making the rare jump from undrafted rookie to No. 1 on the Broncos’ depth chart. In a stunning move, coach Mike Shanahan announced in a team meeting Sunday night Bell had bypassed Ron Dayne and Tatum Bell and would be running with the starters. Shanahan said Monday Mike Bell will start the Broncos’ preseason opener Friday night in Detroit. Bell is the only rookie tailback in the NFL atop his team’s depth chart.

“I’ve got to stay hungry,” he said. “I came here with a chip on my shoulder and I’ve got to continue having a chip on my shoulder.”

“Mike’s been out here killing in practices,” said Dayne, who had been running with the first team. “If I was the coach and watched, I’d have probably taken Mike, too.”

Dayne is taking his demotion in stride, but the other Bell in town is ticked.

“They don’t think I can be the man, period,” he said flatly. “They don’t think I can do 25 carries.”

“They don’t trust me,” he said, adding he is unsure whether that person is coach Mike Shanahan, running backs coach Bobby Turner or someone else making decisions in the front office.

“I’m going to keep fighting for it, and I’ve got it in the back of my mind that I’m going to be the man, but in reality, it ain’t worked like that in three years,” Bell said. “It’s a long season. Anything can happen and Mike’s looking good, I’m not taking nothing from him. But I feel like I should be the No. 1 - to be named the starter and then lose it. I don’t know, man. I’m still (ticked) off about it.”

As always with Shanahan’s teams, it’s difficult to tell how this will shake out before week 1.

Shanahan said Mike Bell’s promotion doesn’t mean the race for the starting tailback job is over. The coach made it clear Tatum Bell and Dayne still have a chance, but the rookie has been too impressive to keep down. What has most impressed the coaching staff about Mike Bell - who went undrafted after he posted slow 40-yard dash times during offseason workouts - is he runs extremely hard, and he’s a downhill runner. That fits the Broncos’ system. Many thought Cedric Cobbs, on the practice squad last year, might emerge. But he is fourth on the depth chart while the kid who has been in the Denver organization for just more than three months has stolen the show.

Blitz View: This has running back by committee written all over it. If you draft one, get two handcuffs.

Lamont Jordan is quite happy with all the old school, run the ball down your throat talk coming out of Oakland.

“Coach said we’re going to run the ball, we’re going to run the ball, we’re going to run the ball, and two more times, we’re going to run the ball…As a running back, you want to hear that.”

“I have something to prove, and the quicker we get started, the quicker I can go out there and try to get the job done.”

“I’ve been a little bit too nice,” Jordan said. “A couple of my boys told me that when I was in New York, I ran a lot angrier. I was an angry man, and I have to get back to being that angry guy that I was … to being a violent running back.”

“Last year, we did a lot of sideways stuff,” Jordan said. “That was not our identity. I didn’t like it, the offensive line didn’t like it…Now, we’re going to play attack-the-defense style of offense.”

“I watched the playoffs on television last year…You look back at every team that was in the playoffs, every team was able to run the ball. If you can run the ball, you’re putting yourself in a pretty good spot.”

Art Shell:

“This is the Al Davis system,” Shell said. “I grew up in this system. It allows you to run the football with power. We’re going to come downhill at you, attack the flanks, just run the football. And then, play-action and strike from anywhere on the field.”

Blitz View: Expect Jordan to top his 1025 rushing yards from last year, but don’t bank on him repeating 70 receptions for 563 yards.