I like the look of RJ Harvey. I think he’s going to be the best back in Denver, with a decent chance of being the 2nd-best rookie running back.
The Broncos don’t have much else at the position. Jaleel McLaughlin is a neat little change-of-pace guy, but he’s undersized and is historically bad as a pass catcher. (He averaged only 3.2 yards per pass play last year, which is the lowest by any player in the history of the league).
They’ve got Audric Estime, who flashed some tackle-breaking ability as a rookie, but I don’t know that he’s fast enough or good enough. He was a healthy scratch for their playoff game. Also might not be good enough in the passing game.
So probably Harvey, I think, who ran for 2,993 yards and 38 touchdowns his final two years at Central Florida. More notably, he caught 61 passes and 4 TDs in his three years there, and at a healthy 11.8 yards per catch. I’m pretty confident he’s better as a pass catcher than those other guys.
Sean Payton said some nice things about Harvey at a rookie camp last week. It’s early, but I think Harvey is their guy.
Sean Payton is a big fan of using running backs in the passing game. You factor in that pass catching, and Harvey starts to stack up real nice against prospects like Omarion Hampton and Kaleb Johnson.
Walking into a draft today, I would think Harvey should be going in a similar range to guys like Aaron Jones and Tony Pollard. I think he’s legit. Risky, I will agree, but that’s the business we’re in. You don’t win your league without some well-place gambles.
The pass-catching stats are key. You factor those in, and Denver has generated the 9th-most production at running back over the last two years. And if you’re wondering why I’m using the last two years rather than just last year, it’s to make them look better (Denver was 6th in 2023 but 16th last year).
Denver probably will use two-three backs in most games, but put me down as a Harvey fan. I think I'm going to be drafting him.
TEAM PRODUCTION FOR RUNNING BACKS (last 2 yrs) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Rushing | Receiving | Tot Yds | TD | PPR |
Detroit | 927-4519-52 | 170-1441-5 | 5960 | 57 | 1108.0 |
Miami | 780-3691-36 | 209-1540-13 | 5231 | 49 | 1026.1 |
Baltimore | 761-3906-37 | 126-1249-8 | 5155 | 45 | 911.5 |
San Francisco | 731-3597-28 | 153-1342-11 | 4939 | 39 | 880.9 |
Atlanta | 904-3972-25 | 162-1270-7 | 5242 | 32 | 878.2 |
Buffalo | 745-3359-27 | 138-1376-13 | 4735 | 40 | 851.5 |
Tampa Bay | 761-3274-19 | 189-1535-10 | 4809 | 29 | 843.9 |
Pittsburgh | 830-3547-19 | 178-1224-1 | 4771 | 20 | 775.1 |
Denver | 703-2854-13 | 226-1376-7 | 4230 | 20 | 769.0 |
Washington | 652-2869-26 | 154-1346-6 | 4215 | 32 | 767.5 |
NY Jets | 653-2704-14 | 201-1507-9 | 4211 | 23 | 760.1 |
Arizona | 710-3458-21 | 149-1016-5 | 4474 | 26 | 752.4 |
Philadelphia | 797-3916-21 | 127-883-3 | 4799 | 24 | 750.9 |
Green Bay | 814-3526-24 | 127-988-3 | 4514 | 27 | 740.4 |
New Orleans | 698-2616-17 | 206-1406-3 | 4022 | 20 | 728.2 |
Tennessee | 750-3126-23 | 153-1072-2 | 4198 | 25 | 722.8 |
Indianapolis | 807-3550-26 | 107-720-5 | 4270 | 31 | 720.0 |
Seattle | 659-2727-24 | 160-1154-3 | 3881 | 27 | 710.1 |
LA Rams | 811-3360-31 | 95-624-5 | 3984 | 36 | 709.4 |
Kansas City | 677-2608-18 | 159-1260-8 | 3868 | 26 | 701.8 |
Cincinnati | 621-2526-18 | 159-1109-9 | 3635 | 27 | 684.5 |
Cleveland | 738-2946-20 | 131-900-6 | 3846 | 26 | 671.6 |
New England | 716-2767-16 | 158-1042-4 | 3809 | 20 | 658.9 |
Houston | 705-2842-20 | 126-932-5 | 3774 | 25 | 653.4 |
Dallas | 716-2858-14 | 149-970-5 | 3828 | 19 | 645.8 |
Jacksonville | 708-2715-22 | 127-1026-1 | 3741 | 23 | 639.1 |
Chicago | 677-2654-21 | 138-976-2 | 3630 | 23 | 639.0 |
Las Vegas | 664-2485-15 | 161-1147-4 | 3632 | 19 | 638.2 |
Carolina | 723-2933-18 | 143-772-2 | 3705 | 20 | 633.5 |
LA Chargers | 700-2649-22 | 114-813-3 | 3462 | 25 | 610.2 |
NY Giants | 649-2490-16 | 141-934-5 | 3424 | 21 | 609.4 |
Minnesota | 642-2648-10 | 142-994-7 | 3642 | 17 | 608.2 |
—Ian Allan