Clinton Portis, we need you. We need a back who can block and catch and pull off the sick swivel-deke-spin move. We need a back who can turn heads on the field. And off the field as well, which, with your pink pants, matching hat and yellow '74 Impala, you do.

You're young (21, in fact, the second-youngest player in the NFL), fast (4.42 40) and smooth as a James Bond night move. Two weeks into training camp, Mike Shanahan was convinced you had everything his offense needed. Not just as a runner, because coaches don't want just running backs or just receivers anymore. They want multidimensional weapons, and that's what you're becoming, giving the Broncos O a double-threat out of the backfield. You're just a second-round pick, but you lead all rookies in rushing (832) and total yards (1,042). And when you're asked, as a rookie, if anything has surprised you so far, you say, "No. It's been fun."

	Give Clinton the damn ball!

At 5'11'', 205 pounds, you look like someone stronger and bigger than you actually are. And what you are is equal parts acceleration, deception and force. That's why Broncos running backs coach Bobby Turner says, "Clinton can get the ugly four-yarders and the pretty 75-yarders."

"The only thing he didn't do well immediately was catch the ball," says Shanahan. "He's improved that dramatically." So much so that the Broncos' "Zebra" formation, a three-wide, one-back passing set, used to feature Mike Anderson; now it features you. You dropped a few at the start of training camp, prompting Brian Griese to say, "You've got bricks for hands." But you begged him to give you another shot. He has. You haven't grabbed as many as Priest Holmes or Marshall Faulk, but your 21 catches -- including 15 since Week 6 -- are a good indicator that you'll be running as many routes as draws. Your hands and patterns were raw when you got to Denver, but you fixed them fast. The first half of the season, you were primarily an outlet option. Now that Shanahan has seen what you can do in open space, you're catching the ball on the move. Like Faulk and Holmes, you're breaking into secondaries and reading coverages. Instead of running swing and check-down routes as you did the first half of the season, you're running timing patterns, where precision and craft are as important as speed and hands. "My load's gotten heavier every week," you say. "Now Griese's throwing me the ball first instead of going downfield."

Against Seattle in Week 11, you faked taking a handoff, sped up the field and at 10 yards cut outside. The ball was on its way, and when you caught it, all you saw ahead was gorgeous open lawn. The result? A 38-yard gain. "We haven't had a back with that kind of speed since I've been here," says tackle Matt Lepsis. "He can do things that the other guys simply couldn't."

Shanahan's jazzed-up attack is as state-of-the-art as they come. Still, a designed play is a loose blueprint for you to mold into your own highlight clip. "I'm instinctive," you say. "I'm still learning how to run the ball. What I've done may look good to everyone else, but I know I'm capable of more than I've shown." You pause. "I know where I'm going."

We'd like to be there when you arrive.

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This article appears in the December 9 issue of ESPN The Magazine.