As Broncos search for a “joker,” Brashard Smith could be an intriguing option

Mar 2, 2025, 8:51 PM | Updated: Mar 3, 2025, 1:08 am

Senior Broncos Writer

INDIANAPOLIS — The Broncos are going “joker” shopping this offseason.

But it may not be about finding just one possible “joker” — or about locating one in the first round. And that’s where a prospect like SMU’s Brashard Smith might come into play — although he may not be purely a running back in the NFL.

Smith only converted to the backfield last season at SMU after working as a wide receiver at Miami (Fla.) before entering the transfer portal. The speed necessary for that position was on display when he ran Saturday during his Combine workout, as he posted a 4.39-second time in the 40-yard dash — the third-fastest among Combine running backs.

But with 194 pounds on a 5-foot-10 frame, Smith would only be part of a backfield solution if he became a part of the Broncos. That would likely be just fine with Sean Payton, of course, since his ground games have often been at their best with a pair of backs — one a “joker” and the other a primary between-the-tackles bruiser.

His New Orleans offense flourished when he was able to divide the workload between Alvin Kamara — the “joker” of whom Payton often speaks — and Mark Ingram.

Smith would fit as part of a solution — and this draft offers every different type of running back who can fill a need. It’s an unusually deep class, and even though it seems likely to produce just a pair of first-rounders in Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton, that’s more due to draft positional value along with the depth of candidates than a lack of quality.

“I think there’s so many different flavors in this draft,” Broncos general manager George Paton said at the Combine. “It’s a good year to maybe go get a back because there’s so many.”

Smith’s wide-receiver background might make him the most unique of them all — and someone who won’t have to be brought up to speed in any way to handle the pass-catching aspects of being a potential “joker”-type presence.

He noted last Friday that he spent time during his meeting with the Broncos discussing “what they see in me and how they can use me in their offense,” he said.

“Just making plays, just coming out the backfield, moving out. I can move out to receiver, move around, Just moving around stuff,” Smith said. “I feel like they pride that a lot.”

And that sparked Smith’s imagination.

“I feel like that role is the biggest role now,” he said. “I feel like nowadays in the NFL you have to have a back that can catch and run out the backfield. I feel like that’s just the new wave of running backs now.”

Finding that with the requisite vision, speed and balance required of handling even 8 to 10 carries on the ground per game in the NFL can be difficult. Smith showed signs that he could during his only season at running back with the Mustangs. He built on that during Senior Bowl week, when he displayed outstanding vision and timing to read the creases as they formed and burst through them.

Smith was arguably the most consistent running back on the field during Senior Bowl practices — and it wasn’t because of his pass-catching proficiency.

With speed to spare, vision and a receiving background, there are lines on his CV and skills that show some possibilities that he could be that scarce commodity — a running back who can become a “joker” that Payton seeks, working the inside of the field as a pass-catching target while also delivering a run threat.

That could be the difference between the Broncos’ offense being average or dominant.

“I’ve played Sean’s teams that had them [a joker],” Paton said, “and they’re hell.”

Now it’s a matter of the Broncos finding one. But as Kamara showed as a third-round pick eight years ago, that player doesn’t have to come from the first round.