Broncos HC Sean Payton Gives Telling Update on Team’s RB Battles

It’s safe to say that not many NFL teams got off to a better start during their preseason than the Denver Broncos. Sean Payton’s crew thumped the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night, securing a 30-9 victory on the road. It was a hard-earned win that showcased plenty of positives but also a handful of things to work on.

There may not be a greater example of that than the running back position. In total, five different halfbacks logged carries on the night. One high-profile name only touched the ball in the receiving game.

That left Payton and Co. with some work to do from an evaluation standpoint. Speaking to the media after the game, the veteran head coach acknowledged such.

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The top of the depth chart is easier to figure out, albeit still a bit tricky. Some combination of veteran J.K. Dobbins and rookie RJ Harvey will make up the featured roles in the Broncos’ offense. Ironically, neither player was on last year’s squad. There’s still a lot to find out about them, which falls squarely on the coaching staff to do.

On Saturday, the rook got double the number of snaps (12) the more proven option did (6). The crowd at Levi’s Stadium became more familiar with Harvey, who had 7 carries for 25 yards and a reception for 4 yards. Dobbins, on the other hand, matched that receiving production but didn’t get handed the ball on the ground.

Was that intentional? Payton seemed to allude to that, also giving a sneak peek at potential plans for next weekend’s outing against the Arizona Cardinals.

“Yeah, part of the deal,” Payton said. “We divide it up into kind of how we’re going to play guys, phases. He’ll continue to get work with the ones. Just like Dobbins — RJ probably had maybe more snaps than Dobbins. Next week, we’ll flip it up relative to seeing some of these other backs earlier.”

Harvey, a second-round pick, is a smaller back but is a tremendous athlete nonetheless. His profile will inject new life into an attack that ranked 15th in EPA/play a year ago per SumerSports. Dobbins, a former second-round pick, owns a sparkling yards per carry average of 5.2 for his career, and 2024 saw him post career-highs with 905 yards and 9 touchdowns. Injuries are always a concern with him, however, so Harvey is a nice insurance policy.

The one-two punch is relatively set in stone. Don’t expect Payton to favor one player too heavily over the other if all else is equal.

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That’s the catch: Payton has been around for too long to expect a perfect break. Depth, at some point, is going to be paramount. That’s where the Broncos have a plethora of players to make determinations on. The group includes returning talent form a year ago: Audric Estime, Jaleel McLaughlin, Tyler Badie and Blake Watson.

Of the latter collective, both Badie and Watson shined against the 49ers. Badie’s efficiency in his 5 carries (32 yards) and Watson’s production on 4 carries (28 yards) were great. The duo also combined for 5 catches and 30 yards through the air. Their arrows are undoubtedly pointing up as the preseason continues.

That makes Payton and his staff’s lives more difficult, but it’s a good problem to have.

“I think we’re trying to build cases for all of them, in fairness to the process,” Payton said. “We’re trying to keep giving them all these opportunities so that the decision can become a little bit easier. It’s difficult right now. We’ll look at all the film.”

Estime and McLaughlin’s arrows are trending in the opposite direction. The former desperately needed a statement game to separate himself from the pack. Instead, he mustered all of 21 yards on 8 attempts. The latter was the third halfback on the evening but got only 5 yards on his 3 attempts. Predictably, Payton wants to see more from everyone.

“If I went through each one of them, they had some strengths,” Payton said. “They do different things. The running style of Audric is a little bit more forward, a little heavier. Badie is someone who gives you some versatility in protection and Blake, I think you’ve got a little bit of home run speed. It’s early still. The key for us is to make sure that all those guys are getting enough reps where it can help us in the end.”

Denver’s work is cut out for them as training camp comes to a close and games roll on.