The NFL Draft couldn’t have been a fun week for Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey.
The talented 2025 2nd-round pick, coming off a 12-touchdown rookie year, probably envisioned an offseason of preparing to share carries with veteran J.K. Dobbins, which he probably thought was earned through his performance.
Instead, Harvey had to watch as the Broncos drafted another running back in the 4th round with Washington’s Jonah Coleman — then watch the Broncos and their fans fawn over Coleman’s potential to help the offense.
With Dobbins back on a 2-year, $16 million contract signed in March, Harvey wouldn’t be blamed for starting to feel like the odd man out, and Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton thinks the shake-up in the backfield sets Harvey up to be the Broncos’ biggest bust in 2026.
Harvey ended up with 896 yards of total offense and 12 touchdowns, with the bulk of those numbers coming after Dobbins suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 10.
“The Denver Broncos don’t seem eager to feature Harvey in an expanded role, though,” Moton wrote on July 10. “They re-signed J.K. Dobbins and selected Jonah Coleman in the fourth round of this year’s draft. Expect Dobbins to maintain an early-down role. Harvey may share pass-catching opportunities with Coleman … As a collegian, Coleman caught 87 passes for 838 yards and three touchdowns. He’s equipped to eat into Harvey’s role on obvious passing downs.”
According to The Denver Post’s Luca Evans, the Broncos seemed to be retooling their offense in offseason practices to do just that — get Coleman involved in the passing game.
Harvey Called ‘Blue Collar RB’ Following ’25 Draft
The Broncos were in a much different place at running back following the 2024 season — a year in which they still made the playoffs despite starting running back Javonte Williams averaging less than 4.0 yards per carry.
Signing Dobbins and drafting Harvey were the 1st steps toward turning a weakness into what’s now 1 of the offense’s strengths.
The Broncos drafted Harvey in the second round (No. 60 overall) out of UCF after trading down twice from the No. 51 overall pick.
“(Harvey) is instant juice,” ESPN’s Louis Riddick said after Harvey was selected. ” … Sean Payton will figure out a way to get this guy the football and make him an electric playmaker.”
Much of the buzz around the Broncos headed into the draft was around the possibility of them taking a running back in the 1st round, where they selected Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron with the No. 20 overall pick.
Jonah Coleman Called ‘Immediate Impact’ Day 3 Pick
Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport put Coleman, 5-foot-8 and 220 pounds, at the top of his list of Day 3 picks who could make an “Immediate Impact” as rookies.
Coleman started his college career with 2 seasons at Arizona before transferring to Washington for his final 2 seasons.
“Jonah Coleman was highly productive at Washington, topping 1,000 rushing yards in 2024 and posting 25 scores on the ground the past two seasons,” Davenport wrote.
Coleman drew pre-draft comparisons to former NFL star running back Maurice Jones-Drew — a 5-foot-7, 210-pound NFL All-Pro and 3-time Pro Bowler.
“Jonah Coleman was being compared to Maurice Jones-Drew during the pre-draft process,” NFL insider Jordan Schultz wrote on his official X account. “Legit bowling ball very tough to bring down.”
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