Broncos Offseason Signing Named 2025 Fantasy RB Sleeper

After ranking in the middle of the pack in attempts and yards last season, could the Denver Broncos‘ rushing attack be on the rise in 2025-26? One outlet believes a key offseason pickup may have something to do with any potential improvement.

In a story for Pro Football Focus, Nathan Jahnke named five fantasy football sleepers at the running back position. One Denver player, halfback J.K. Dobbins, made the cut.

Despite Injury & Inconsistency, J.K. Dobbins Flashed Last Season

Dobbins, who spent his first handful of seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, made a one-year cameo in the AFC West last year. His stint with the Los Angeles Chargers saw him turn in quality production, albeit in a mixed capacity.

Jahnke points to Dobbins’ 2024 knee injury as reason for pause. Still, the former second-round pick managed to do what he normally does: produce eye-popping numbers thanks to explosive runs.

“He had two games with two touchdowns each in November but then an MCL injury cost him four games,” Jahnke wrote. “Dobbins returned for the last two games of the season and the playoff loss, but he failed to exceed 4.0 yards per carry in any of those games. Dobbins’ ups and downs left him with 14.8 fantasy points per game, the best mark for his career and 18th among running backs on the season. Dobbins’ 69.6 rushing yards per game ranked 10th among running backs last season. While he didn’t have a high rate of 15 or more yard carries, he averaged 0.31 30-yard runs per game, fourth among running backs. His game is still built on long runs, regardless of the situation.”

In 13 games for the Chargers, Dobbins toted the ball a career-high 195 times and had 905 yards. While his 4.6 yards per carry mark was below his career average of 5.2, that’s still a relatively healthy bar to set. In Weeks 1-11, he averaged 4.8 yards per attempt on the ground and had 8 of his 9 touchdowns.

If there’s one thing Dobbins is good for, it’s chunk runs. He finished the season tied for 11th in runs of 10 yards or more. Among players with fewer than 200 carries, he ranked first. When healthy, he remains a viable – but high-variance – fantasy option.

Sean Payton’s History Could Lead to Committee Approach for Broncos

Another thing that can either work for or against Dobbins: coaching decisions. In the past, head coach Sean Payton has encouraged a by-committee approach. That keeps defenses on their toes, but it makes life trickier for fantasy owners.

Jahnke used Payton’s time with the New Orleans Saints as a reference point. Back then, he’d implement backs like Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush, Darren Sproles in different ways. The Mark Ingram-Alvin Kamara dynamic was always worth monitoring, too.

With young supporting pieces like RJ Harvey and Audric Estime behind Dobbins, there’s no reason not to keep everyone fresh. Jaleel McLaughlin is also in the mix. With that said, Dobbins makes the most sense to be the leading piece.

“There is a chance the backfield resembles the earlier Saints teams, where Estime takes an early-down role, Dobbins fills the Thomas role of doing everything, and Harvey takes the Bush/Sproles role,” Jahnke wrote. “This would make it hard to trust anyone in fantasy. However, there is also a chance Dobbins takes the Ingram role, which would be fitting considering they were former teammates, and Harvey takes the Kamara role. In the first two years of Ingram and Kamara, both running backs were top-30 fantasy running backs in both seasons.”

Jahnke believes Dobbins likely slots in as a top-24 fantasy halfback on a per-week basis. That’s very good value for someone who’s flying under the radar. Two things must work in his favor for that to come true, however.

Not only does the sixth-year man need to stay healthy, but his head coach has to trust him.