Read More: Willis McGahee (RB – DEN), Knowshon Moreno (RB – DEN), Orlando Franklin (OT – DEN), Virgil Green (TE – DEN), Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions

The Denver Broncos recently held their Wednesday practices, and running back Willis McGahee was among those participating. It’s a step forward for the veteran back, whose currently making his way back after having hand surgery recently.

There’s a chance that he could return to the field this week, giving the team more depth at the position after starting Knowshon Moreno at running back last week. Moreno had a season-high 14 carries against the Detroit Lions last week, covering 69 yards.

First reported by MaxDenver.com on their Twitter feed, McGahee was among three Broncos players to return to practice on Wednesday. The other two were tackle Orlando Franklin and tight end Virgil Green, both of whom have been banged up after getting hurt against Detroit.

For more on Sunday’s game, check out Mile High Report, SB Nation’s Denver Broncos blog, and Silver And Black Pride, SB Nation’s Oakland Raiders blog.

By Russ Oates

– Senior Editor

Follow , and

Like SB Nation Denver on Facebook.

Oct 25, 2011 – Denver Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno should be a hot pick up off the fantasy football waiver wire for Week 8 of the 2011 season. He will take over the starting duties now that Willis McGahee will have surgery to fix his broken hand and miss several weeks.

Moreno began the season as the Broncos’ starting running back, but McGahee proved to be the hot hand and emerged as the feature back for the team. Injury also prevented Moreno from playing in September after he hurt his hamstring in a loss to the Oakland Raiders. He rarely saw action as the third-down back against the Green Bay Packers and the San Diego Chargers, but he did pick up 28 yards on seven carries against the Miami Dolphins.

Moreno has been a disappointment since he was taken with the 12th overall pick in 2009 and it appeared that Moreno really tried his best to turn things around for this season. He gets another shot, but don’t forget that the Broncos are likely to also put in Lance Ball at times.

If Moreno struggles, Tim Tebow is likely to be the beneficiary of the play calling then, helping his fantasy owners.

For more on the Broncos, visit Mile High Report. For more fantasy info, check out SB Nation Fantasy on Twitter, @sbnationfantasy.

Read More: Willis McGahee (RB – DEN), Lance Ball (RB – DEN), Knowshon Moreno (RB – DEN), Denver Broncos

Follow , and

Like SB Nation Denver on Facebook.

Do you like this story?

Read More: Willis McGahee (RB – DEN), Knowshon Moreno (RB – DEN), Tim Tebow (QB – DEN), Eric Decker (WR – DEN), Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos

At this point in the 2011 NFL season, the Denver Broncos don’t have a great number of fantasy players who should be automatic starts for the team. There are only two players who should be definite starts and one who might be worth the risk.

The first of two definite starters is running back Willis McGahee. He has clearly become the No. 1 back in Denver while Knowshon Moreno keeps his spot on the team as the third-down back. According to numberFire’s running back rankings, McGahee is the No. 12 player this week. Their projections, however, see McGahee only picking up 66 yards on the ground and nearly 11 points. McGahee has two straight games of 100 yards and the bye week should have given his legs renewed life for this week, but the added dimension of Tim Tebow in the offense could keep McGahee’s numbers down slightly.

NumberFire’s wide receiver rankings aren’t crazy for Eric Decker this week as he is the No. 19 pass catcher this week. He is projected for 6.70 points and around three catches for 53 yards. Decker is now a permanent starter (we think) for the Broncos, so Tim Tebow might become more comfortable with him. Still, Tim Tebow needs to improve his accuracy.

And that brings us to the third player who could be fantasy boon: Tim Tebow. We’ve spent some time over the last two weeks looking at Tebow’s fantasy outlook. NumberFire has him as the No. 7 quarterback this Sunday. He seems like the ultimate risk/reward player this week. He’s going up against an 0-5 team and offers an extra dimension, mobile quarterback, that the Dolphins need to look out for. Can they? If an owner believes that, it might be worth it to start Tebow.

For more on the Broncos, check out Mile High Report. To fill your fantasy needs, visit SB Nation Fantasy.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos are practicing without a half dozen of their key players.

Pro Bowlers Champ Bailey (hamstring) and Brandon Lloyd (groin) missed Wednesday’s workout along with fellow starters Knowshon Moreno (hamstring) and Elvis Dumervil (shoulder). All of them were hurt Monday night against Oakland.

They might join D.J. Williams (elbow), Marcus Thomas (pectoral), Demaryius Thomas (foot) and Ty Warren (triceps) on the sideline Sunday when the Broncos (0-1) host the Cincinnati Bengals (1-0).

The eight players who missed practice Wednesday have a collective 55 years of NFL experience. Bailey, Williams, Dumervil and Marcus Thomas represent four of the five players on the roster who have been with the Broncos the longest. The other is Chris Kuper, who had a toe injury in the preseason but is healthy again.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Read More: Willis McGahee (RB – DEN), Knowshon Moreno (RB – DEN), Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are a rushing team looking to reestablish that once dominant ground attack they once had. Under former coach Josh McDaniels, the Broncos moved away from that and had Kyle Orton throw the ball (being down by big numbers also helped that propensity to throw). May we see a return to the days of pounding the ball?

Jeff Legwold of the Denver Post believes that if the Broncos want to win, they will need to rush the ball 500 times this season. The team ran the ball 440 times in 2009 and 398 times in 2010, a 4-10 season. Legwold then breaks down how the Broncos have a winning season almost every time the team has over 500 rushing attempts.

In the first preseason game, we did see a balanced attack between the rush and the pass. Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn combined for 27 pass attempts; Seven players rushed for 30 total carries, though we’ll drop that down to 28 since Tebow made two of those rushes. An improved Knowshon Moreno and new running back Willis McGahee will be at the forefront of this movement.

John Fox is ready to take back the ground offensive and we’ll see that more as the preseason goes on.

For more on the Broncos, visit Mile High Report. For more NFL news, check out SB Nation’s NFL hub.