However, as ESPN’s Mike Clay tabulated for his 2025 regular season stat projections, Denver may have found a legitimate RB1 in rookie RJ Harvey. While Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay believes that Harvey could take a back seat to Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime, Clay thinks otherwise.
Clay projected Harvey to finish his rookie campaign with 189 carries for 841 yards and five touchdowns. Meanwhile, he had McLaughlin at 108 carries for 480 yards and three touchdowns. After a season with 310 rushing yards and two touchdowns, Clay sees Estime regressing to 198 yards and a touchdown.
In addition to Harvey’s projected rushing yards, Clay portrays Harvey’s versatility by projecting him to have 357 receiving yards and two touchdowns. That’s more yards than Clay’s projections for Troy Franklin and Devaughn Vele.
If Harvey fulfills these projections, having 1,198 all-purpose yards could make him a strong contender for Offensive Rookie of the Year and the ideal “joker” running back in Sean Payton’s offensive system.
However, despite envisioning a strong season for Harvey, Clay doesn’t put the Broncos RB rotation on high regard. He gave the unit a 3, tied with Denver’s wide receiver corps for the lowest grades in the team.
Fantasy Football Expert Explains Harvey’s ‘Efficient’ Impact to Denver’s Offense
While several factors can influence RJ Harvey’s final rookie season stats, The Fantasy Headliners’ Kyle Richardson speculated on how the former University of Central Florida standout can impact the Broncos offense.
Richardson said in a May 12 video uploaded on X/Twitter, “Even if you’re overly concerned about the amount of volume RJ Harvey may end up getting, he’s going to be getting an opportunity to score.” He outlined how Harvey can get his numbers based on the patterns from Sean Payton-coached teams with the New Orleans Saints.
https://x.com/FantasyHdliners/status/1921912295782764894
Richardson added, “Sean Payton was the head coach in New Orleans for 15 seasons and in all but four of those seasons, the New Orleans Saints ranked higher in rushing touchdowns than they did in rushing attempts. In eight of those 11 seasons, the New Orleans Saints ranked outside the top ten in rushing attempts in the NFL, but they were inside the top five of rushing touchdowns.”
Getting more comfortable with Payton’s offensive scheme and the emergence of a potential workhorse running back like Harvey should increase the Broncos’ rushing touchdowns. In contrast to Richardson’s argument, the Broncos were tied for the sixth fewest rushing touchdowns last season with 12.
In Peyton’s first year with Denver, the team finished with the second fewest rushing touchdowns (8) in 451 attempts. Those dismal numbers could change with Harvey because, as Richardson pointed out “After being picked at the end of the second round, it’s difficult to imagine that the Denver Broncos don’t believe that RJ Harvey is a guy that can carry the workload in Denver.”
NFL Analyst Reveals Why Harvey Will Be a Tough Out
In his May 14 appearance on the DNVR Broncos Podcast, former NFL player Brian Baldinger explained why he thinks tackling RJ Harvey is like “grabbing Jell-O.”
The offensive guard who played in 12 NFL seasons said, “He’s going to be difficult to get to the ground. And then what he does after contact or how he sees the field or how quickly he finds daylight, we’re gonna find that out pretty quick. I have a feeling it’s going to be pretty special in this offense because of the continuity they have up front. His ability to adapt to this is going to be pretty fun to watch.”
Harvey can inflict a massive impact starting in Week 1 when the Broncos host the Tennessee Titans. The matchup favors the running game because Tennessee finished 26th in rushing defense, allowing 133.9 yards per game.
