Broncos hoping to end 6-year drought in key offensive area

Following the signing of J.K. Dobbins to a one-year deal last week, the Denver Broncos have completely rebuilt their running back room. 

The team moved on from Javonte Williams in the offseason and selected RJ Harvey in the second round of the draft before adding the veteran Dobbins. Harvey and Dobbins will combine with Audric Estime and Jaleel McLaughlin to form this year’s rushing attack. 

Can any of those players crack the 1,000-yard mark?

The Broncos have not had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2019 and many Broncos fans may not correctly guess the last player to do it: Phillip Lindsay. 

Only four teams in the league have a longer drought than the Broncos, and two of them are in their division, the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs. 

Last season with a 1,000-yard rusher

Kansas City- 2017
L.A. Chargers- 2017
New Orleans- 2017
N.Y. Jets- 2015

Dobbins nearly took one of those teams off the list last season, rushing for 905 yards for the Chargers and he would have gone over the mark if he didn’t have to miss four games due to injury. However, one team on that list sticks out… the New Orleans Saints. 

The Saints haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher in the last eight seasons, dating back to 2017, when Sean Payton was their head coach. That was Alvin Kamara’s rookie season and it was also the year the team signed Adrian Peterson in free agency. 

Peterson lasted just four games with them before being traded. That move cut the Saints’ rotation to just two players, Kamara and Mark Ingram. Ingram rushed for over 1,000 yards but likely would not have if Peterson had been a better fit for the team. 

Also, as good as Kamara has been in his career, he’s never had a 1,000-yard season. That gives you a good idea of how Payton uses his backs, never leaning on only one or placing a heavy workload on only one. 

Broncos leading rushers

Dobbins and Harvey will likely be in a similar situation to what the Saints had with Ingram and Kamara in that 2017 season. Estime will be used in the role that Payton had envisioned for Peterson that year, taking even more pressure off Dobbins and Harvey. 

This will be a full running back committee approach, making it difficult for any one player to get the kind of carries needed to be a 1,000-yard rusher. Payton believes in attacking a defense with multiple players who have multiple different athletic traits. 

As long as each player stays healthy, the Broncos will look to throw three and perhaps even four running backs at defenses in games this coming season. There is a good chance that the 1,000-yard drought will last at least another season, but Payton wouldn’t look at that as a negative. 

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