Bo and Skattebo. What coulda been.
Imagine the posters. Imagine the T-shirts. Heck, imagine third-and-short. Do I let 10 juke me or let 44 truck me?
How much more fun would this Broncos offense be right now if Bo Nix had Cam Skattebo to lean on as a situational back and bodyguard? Ferris and the Nature Boy. Bodacious and Houdini. The perfectionist and the goof.
“(I) tell people it’s as simple as this: ‘Do you want to play him?’ No,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham told reporters once when asked about Skattebo, the former Sun Devils star tailback who got drafted by the New York Giants in the fourth round last spring.
“He can do so many things that if you’re a (coach) that moves a guy around, if you’re a team that relies on matchups, and surely looks for matchups, he’s a nightmare.”
Broncos coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton are going to find out this weekend if the Joker is on them. The guy they call “Skatt” is tearing it up in the Big Apple for the G-Men — and they’re up next. Despite flying his team in from the other side of the world late Sunday night, Payton wanted a normal (ish) game week for the 2-4 Giants, whom his 4-2 Broncos will host Sunday afternoon at Empower Field.
It’s early, but not too early to ask the question. If a genie gave you one 2025 Broncos draft pick back, and you got a choice of selecting RJ Harvey or Skattebo with the 60th overall pick, who are you taking now?
Because on the field, so far, it’s been no contest.
Since a shaky Week 1 debut at Washington, Skattebo is averaging 16 carries, 19.6 touches, 68 rushing yards, 29 receiving yards, and one rushing touchdown per game.
“Skatt” piled up more touches (21) in a 34-17 bashing of the Eagles last Thursday night than Harvey did over Weeks 5 and 6 (13) combined.
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Nowhere near Harvey’s wheels, granted. Although this is interesting: Pro Football Reference says Harvey is averaging 5.3 yards per touch through six games. Skattebo is averaging 4.8. Not a huge gap.
The site also tracks something called “Successful Play Percentage,” which defines success as 40% of the yards needed to move the chains on first down, 60% of the yards needed on second down and 100% of the yards needed on third or fourth down. Harvey’s hit on a “successful” run play 39.4% of the time and registered a “successful” pass play at a 33.3% rate. Skattebo: 56.3% on runs, 58.3% on receptions. That’s … quite a bit of a gap, actually.
He’s got ball-security issues.
Some, sure. Seeking contact as a tailback in the NFL is the ultimate football version of Russian Roulette. The risk is real. Although Skattebo has also only fumbled once over his first 102 NFL touches.
Reminds me too much of a young Peyton Hillis.
And that’s a terrible thing?
He’s only as good as his offensive line.
Again: This is a knock? Pro Football Focus ranked the Broncos’ offensive line tops in the league heading into the Jets game. It doesn’t look like the same unit, collectively, without guard Ben Powers, but it’s on Payton and Paton to patch that hole.
All that contact is going to shorten his career.
Sure is. And so what? Studies have shown running back to be the position with the shortest NFL career — an average of roughly 2.6 seasons. It’s become the most replaceable position in the sport. Did you know RJ’s actually a year older (24, Feb. 4 birthday) than Skattebo (23, Feb. 5 birthday)? Hillis only played seven years in the NFL, a career that, ironically, started here in 2008 and ended with the Giants in the winter of 2015.
Cam’s a loose cannon, but in the most silly, glorious of ways. Dude ran into telephone poles as a kid. He head-butts teammates. He runs onto the practice field like Ric Flair. He gave fellow rookie Jaxson Dart, the G-Men’s QB1, a wet willie during a recent plane ride. He doesn’t ask questions during meetings. He shouts them.
Skattebo is this season’s weird rookie du jour, an old-school, downhill runner with enough off-field quirks to become a TikTok star.
Then again, do you really think Payton would draft a running back who head-butts walls for fun?
You’d have to physically keep him away from Big Thompson Canyon. You can almost picture Skattebo driving down U.S. 34 west of Loveland when he casually spots two bighorn sheep getting ready to bang heads. “Stop the car!” he shouts, then trundles up the hill to join the carnage.
Payton’s not into carnage. Or goofs.
Too bad.
Harvey is a weapon. A good one, potentially, given the reps.
Skatt, man. Skatt is a player.
“So when I tell (NFL teams), I ask, ‘You’re either going to be playing him,'” Dillingham continued, “or you’re going to be saying, ‘Dang, I have to play him.'”
Dang, the Broncos have to play him. Yes, Skattebo is an acquired taste. Only it tastes like thunder.
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