The Denver Broncos have one of the more unpredictable running back position battles ahead of the 2025 season.
Entering the offseason, there might not have been another team in the league that needed to address the running back spot more than Denver. After allowing Javonte Williams to leave in free agency, the Broncos used a second-round pick on RJ Harvey out of UCF before signing veteran running back J.K. Dobbins, who is still full of upside.
Those players join Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime, Tyler Badie and Blake Watson, who were already on the roster. Each of those guys has some value, but the team won’t be able to keep everyone.
Broncos Country is excited to see how the competition turns out. However, fantasy football managers will be keeping a close eye on the situation as it will play a key role in how some of them build their rosters or work their dynasty league rosters.
Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report, with fantasy football on his mind, listed the most important position battles of the offseason. The Broncos’ running back situation is at the top of his list.
“The fantasy hype train for rookie running back R.J. Harvey started picking up steam the moment the Denver Broncos took him in the second round of the NFL draft.
The 24-year-old topped 1,400 rushing yards each of the past two years and had a clear path to lead back duties in the Mile High City.
At least he did until the Broncos signed J.K. Dobbins, who set a career high in rushing and topped 1,000 total yards a year ago with the Los Angeles Chargers.
While speaking to reporters, Denver head coach Sean Payton talked up the veteran back while asserting that the pecking order in the backfield is still to be determined.
“When you see [Dobbins’] consistency, it’s not an accident,” he said. “It’s another good football player we’re adding to our team. Then we’ll see how training camp goes, see how all the carries go.”
For his part, Dobbins also had good things to say about Harvey, because…clarity.
“[Harvey is] going to be really good,” he said. “He’s going to help me out, and I’m going to help him out. He’s going to be great”, wrote Davenport.
Most Broncos fans and fantasy managers know by now (or at least they should) that Sean Payton is not going to rely on just one running back. There’s a really good chance that three or even four of these guys will be regular contributors this year.
Harvey has yet to sign his rookie contract, something that is becoming big news around the league as many second-round picks are looking for fully guaranteed deals.
RJ Harvey’s entire contract is set to be worth $7.35M over 4 years, or $1.84M per year
Fully guaranteeing that contract isn’t going to hurt the team or their cap sheet at all
It’s more important that Harvey gets on the field than it is for the Broncos to pinch pennies here
— Zach Segars (@Zach_Segars) July 14, 2025
Rookies are scheduled to report to training camp on Wednesday, but that won’t happen until Harvey is signed. That could keep the door open for McLaughlin or Estime as many have predicted one or the other to be the odd man out with the additions of Harvey and Dobbins.
It will be an important summer for all of these running backs as the Broncos will look to not only choose which backs to keep but also to determine a pecking order in their running back committee. That will be important information for fantasy managers as they head into draft season.
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