It wasn’t long after the Denver Broncos signed injury-prone running back J.K. Dobbins to a 2-year, $19 million contract on March 9 that Dobbins himself decided to go to war with fans who, rightly so, had a problem with the Broncos dropping so much cash on someone who has been hurt so much.
Dobbins really isn’t going to like the take ESPN’s Seth Walder dropped on Tuesday, calling the deal for Dobbins the offseason move he “disliked the most” by the Broncos in 2026.
Walder also praised the Broncos signing starting inside linebackers Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad to new contracts as their best move, and trading a 1st-round pick for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle as Denver’s biggest move.
“The team also re-signed Dobbins on a two-year, $16 million contract with $8 million guaranteed — an overpay for an injury-prone 27-year-old back,” Walder wrote.
Dobbins’ contract is decidedly team-friendly but also chock-full of incentives. It includes just $8 million in guaranteed money but also includes up to $1 million in bonuses if he plays in all 17 regular-season games and another $2 million bonus if he hits 1,200 rushing yards in the regular season.
Broncos Turned to NFL Draft for RB Depth
While Dobbins looked elite at times in 2025, it’s still difficult to get around the fact he only played 10 games — his season came to a close after he suffered a Lisfranc injury to his foot on an illegal hip-drop tackle by Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Tyree Wilson.
At the time, Dobbins was on pace to crack 1,000 yards rushing and finished the season with 772 rushing yards while averaging 5.0 yards per carry.
Because of Dobbins’ long history of injuries, the Broncos went back to the NFL draft for another running back in 2026, taking Washington’s Jonah Coleman in the 4th round after taking running back RJ Harvey in the 2nd round of the 2025 NFL draft.
Harvey finished his rookie season with 894 yards of total offense and a whopping 12 touchdowns.
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.
“Jonah Coleman was highly productive at Washington, topping 1,000 rushing yards in 2024 and posted 25 scores on the ground the past two seasons,” Davenport wrote. ” … Dobbins was effective when healthy in 2025, but ‘when healthy’ is a caveat that has hounded Dobbins throughout his career. R.J. Harvey was OK as a rookie, but the second-round pick averaged just 3.7 yards per carry. There’s a pathway to an early workload for Coleman, especially if he can show that he isn’t a liability as a pass-blocker. And given Dobbins’ penchant for getting hurt (he has averaged 12 missed games the last four years), it won’t be a huge upset if Coleman winds up the lead back for one of the AFC’s best teams sooner rather than later.
J.K. Dobbins’ Injury History is No Fluke
While Dobbins’ 2025 injury may actually be a fluke because it happened on an illegal play, his overall injury history speaks to much bigger issues with him staying healthy.
For Dobbins, getting hurt has always seemed to be an issue of not “if” but “when” it’s going to happen.
In 2020, Dobbins rushed for 805 yards and 9 touchdowns for the Baltimore Ravens as a rookie. He played just 9 games over the next 3 seasons due to injuries, including missing the entire 2021 season after he tore his ACL in the preseason.
Dobbins returned from his injury to play 8 games in 2022, but tore his Achilles tendon in Week 1 of the 2023 regular season. He played for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024 and missed 4 games due to an MCL sprain.
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