The Broncos had a terrible run game last season. Denver’s rushing attack often felt like an exercise in attention more than explosion, averaging just 112 yards per game and a modest 4.1 yards per carry. Javonte Williams couldn’t recapture his early-career burst (3.7 YPC). Jaleel McLaughlin showed pace but rarely power (4.4 YPC). Audric Estimé ran hard but hit a rookie ceiling fast (4.1 YPC). Which is precisely why the Broncos made a late offseason move and snagged JK Dobbins a couple of weeks ago.

“[He is] another good football player,” the Broncos’ HC Sean Payton said when asked about Dobbins. “We’re interested in those guys. We’ll see how it unfolds. [There are] no set roles yet.” Speaking of which, the Broncos also picked the former Virginia running back, RJ Harvey, in the second round of the NFL draft. And somehow everything is now making sense, given that the Broncos will now enter the 2025 season after a poor run game in the 2025 season.

With Javonte out of the picture in Denver and straight in Dallas, all signs point to Dobbins and rookie Harvey taking the reins in the backfield. But the big question is: ‘Who’s going to lead the Broncos’ running game this season?’ That’s what Zac Stevens, Ryan Koenigsberg, and Henry Chisholm of the DNVR Broncos Podcast are discussing. And when Koenigsberg asked Henry who would rush more between these two, he laid it out plainly and simply.

“This is a dark thought, but odds would suggest that JK Dobbins won’t play 17 games,” Henry pointed out. “And because of that, I’m going to go RJ Harvey.” Understandable. Dobbins turned heads after signing a one-year deal with the Chargers last year. The RB rushed 10 times in the season opener for 135 yards and racked up a rushing TD against Vegas. Week 2? Total replica. He again rushed for 131 yards and a TD over Carolina.

But things went south from there as he suffered an MCL sprain during the week 12 showdown. Dobbins wrapped up his brief stint in LA with over 900 rushing yards and 9 TDs. Harvey, on the other hand, is entering the NFL after his best season for the Cavaliers.

The rookie rushed for nearly 1,600 yards in his final season at Virginia and had 22 trips to the end zone. The result? Well, the Broncos noticed and picked him in the second round with the 60th overall. And now, these two are all set to lead Denver’s running back room. Whether it’s Dobbins or Harvey, it’s too early to predict who’s going to rush more for Denver.

Will Dobbins’ injury history hold him back, or could the weight of NFL expectations catch up to Harvey in his rookie year? Either way, the Broncos’ run game hinges on how quickly one or both can find their footing. Henry already predicted that Harvey is all set to rush more than Dobbins. But anyway, it’s better for the Broncos. After all, plenty out there have already labeled the Broncos’ backfield as the weakest in the league.

Is the Broncos RB room the worst heading into the 2025 season?

Last season’s inconsistency in the Broncos’ run game probably led ESPN’s Mike Clay to rank the Broncos’ running back room dead last entering 2025. He gave them a 3 out of 10, the lowest mark in the league. His assessment wasn’t a jab at individual talent. But he wanted to highlight the whole room’s collective inability to produce chunk plays or control game tempo. Fairs… for some. Not for everyone.

In fact, Stevens, Koenigsberg, and Henry called out Clay’s rankings “crazy” and offered their own picks to revive the league’s most forgettable ground game. “He (Clay) has them at a three,” Koenigsberg pointed out. “He has the Broncos as the worst running back room in the NFL… Crazy. I don’t see what he’s seeing.” With Dobbins and Harvey arriving in Denver, and with Estimé and McLaughlin already on the roster, the Denver insiders found it… well, pretty odd.

“I don’t either,” Stevens chimed in, adding, “I mean he (Clay) doesn’t trust a rookie (Harvey) and he does like he doesn’t believe in JK (Dobbins), I guess.” To spice things up, Clay ranked the Cowboys‘ running back room ahead of the Broncos’. And the last time we checked, the Cowboys had the worst RB room in the league… Guess what? They’re entering the 2025 season after signing ex-Broncos Javonte Williams.

And let’s just say, these Broncos insiders aren’t just on board with this. “How does he have the Cowboys ahead of the Broncos?” Koenigsberg added. “Jevonta Williams, Jaydon Blue, Miles Sanders, and Deuce Vaughn.” The Cowboys ranked among the bottom few teams in the NFL with 100.3 yards per game on average and just 4.0 yards per carry overall. Ezekiel Elliott was nowhere to be seen—74 carries for 226 yards (3.1 YPC), and Vaughn had just a limited presence on the field.

That’s exactly why both teams went shopping—Dallas with Williams, Sanders, and rookie Jaydon Blue, and Denver banking on a healthier Dobbins and rookie Audric Estimé. But let’s be honest: we’re still comparing two of the league’s least productive run games. The upgrades are on paper. Whether they translate on the field? That’s the real test coming this fall.