Jeff Legwold reports that there are few starter spots available for the Denver Broncos, and that RJ Harvey will compete for a “situational role.”
This is not the tone we want to hear. JK Dobbins already signed this offseason with the Broncos, coming off a 1,000 scrimmage yard season with 9 TDs. Harvey, selected in RD2 of the 2025 NFL Draft, is just 2 years younger than Dobbins and 3 years older than Audric Estimé.
The prospects of opportunity and efficiency are high for Harvey, as 2024 Broncos starter Javonte Williams earned 40+ targets in his two seasons with Sean Payton as head coach. Draft capital and sponsorship are in Harvey’s favor, but we’ve also seen 2nd round WR Marvin Mims fail to become an immediate starter for Payton with Denver.
Author: Bradley Stalder (@FFStalder)
Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey has become one of the...
The Denver Broncos have intentionally been getting rookie ...
Denver Broncos rookie running back RJ Harvey, who was taken...
With RJ Harvey in tow, Sean Payton believes that 2nd year back Audric Estime is deserving of more opportunity in 2025.
The Denver Broncos made a significant investment at running back in the 2025 NFL Draft by selecting UCF running back RJ Harvey in round 2. With Javonte Williams leaving for the Dallas Cowboys, it made sense that the Broncos would start anew by reloading in the draft.
While Harvey will be the clear lead back in the Broncos offense, there will be plenty of carries to go around for the duration of the grueling 17 game schedule. Head coach Sean Payton has stated the 2nd year Notre Dame running back Audric Estime is deserving of more opportunity in 2025.
Payton’s sentiment of getting Estime more work in 2025 isn’t a ringing endorsement as he claimed Estime’s grade for the 2024 season as ‘incomplete.’ Estime was 53rd in running back carries with 76 and his 23.5% opportunity share was 60th in 2024. Payton’s endorsement merely echoes enough to warrant dynasty gamers rostering Estime as a cheap stash. Shy of an injury, Audric Estime figures to vulture a few touchdowns from RJ Harvey at best in 2025 and should only be seen as a late round dart throw.
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
The Broncos second round pick was the outstanding player in Denver’s rookie mini camp, drawing favorable comments from Coach Sean Payton
RJ Harvey was able to put his speed and burst on display in camp, particularly the killer jump cut he’s been perfecting until, according to Harvey, it comes natural. Coach Sean Payton had plenty of positive comments about Harvey, noting that “”He’s picked up very quickly on what we’re doing, You can tell it’s real important to him. … He’s looked good, though. We’re glad he’s here.” When asked about Harvey’s projected usage, Coach Payton flat out said he would be used on 3rd downs (in addition to 1st and 2nd), and alluded to the team already having passing plays drawn up for their rookie RB.
Drafting a 24 year old running back in the 2nd round of a stacked positional class is a clear signal that Harvey will have a major factor in the Broncos offense. Just about everything else points to an hit for Fantasy managers, an ideal landing spot with touch competition that Harvey could realistically surpass before the start of the season, an ascending offense with an additional year to develop for their young QB, a fairly consolidated target distribution from a top-end talent perspective, and a top 3 O-line according to the PlayerProfiler.com rankings. As high as we are on RJ Harvey at the moment, after the season don’t be surprised if we were not high enough.
Author: Lukasz Stec (@Lukasz_FF01)
RJ Harvey jumps ahead of Kaleb Johnson to become the 5th running back drafted in the first two rounds of 2025
RJ Harvey has been rising up draft boards all the way up to draft weekend, however most analysts didn’t have him going until round 3. This draft capital and landing spot are HUGE for Harvey. He boasts a 96% 40-yard dash and a 88% burst score, and even though he isn’t tall he has a 76% BMI at 5’8” and 205 lbs. He comps very closely to Maurice Jones-Drew and Ray Rice.
The PlayerProfiler analytics team has him at a 40% rushing share (187 rushes) for 840 yards with 35 targets for 173 receiving yards and a total of 7 touchdowns, which puts him just outside the top 24 running backs for this upcoming season. Harvey could still push aside Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime as the year unfolds, and we just saw Javonte Williams thrive off of pass catching in this Denver backfield last season. If all the chips fall the right way … RJ Harvey has a shot of a monster rookie year.
Author: Lukasz Stec (@Lukasz_FF01)
30% of Pittsburgh Steelers pre-draft visits have been with running backs, with just a few day to go until draft night. Not a good sign for Jaylen Warren’s outlook as a featured back this season.
Jaylen Warren has put together impressive spot performances for Pittsburg, especially for an undrafted free agent walk-on. It’s easy to be captivated by efficiency metrics such as his 5.2 yards per touch (#13 last year), or 4.17 yards created per touch (#9 LY) and project those into a monster season post Najee Harris departure. However, reading the tea leaves and looking at historical data should really temper those expectations.
Pittsburg has hosted 30 pre-draft visits with potential rookies, 9 of those have been running backs. The list of backs include: TreVeyon Henderson, RJ Harvey, Ollie Gordon II, Omarion Hampton, Bhayshul Tuten, Kaleb Johnson and Dylan Sampson. Thinking critically through this list, any of those backs could supplant Warren and keep him in a secondary role. Add to this Coach Tomlins propensity to feed his primary back when he has a stud on his hands, and the frequency of which NFL teams have completely abandoned UDFA running backs even after productive seasons – Jalen Warren should be a stay away in Dynasty at this point in the process.
Author: Lukasz Stec (@Lukasz_FF01)
UCF Running Back RJ Harvey tested top 7 in his positional group across all of the Combine events that he participated in, showcasing enough athleticism for teams to keep him on their boards come draft night.
At 5’8” and 205 lbs, RJ Harvey is one of the smallest running backs in this draft class. He does, however, utilize his compact build and 76th percentile BMI to the fullest on the field. Harvey really needed to impress at the combine to help stand out in this crowded cohort of backs, and I would argue that he did just that. Harvey posted the 4th fastest 40-yard-dash time at 4.40 and was top 6 in the broad jump, shuttle and bench press. He also had an impressive (for his build) 38” vert, tying Omarion Hampton.
Harvey has plenty of ups and downs in his prospect profile. Aside from height, he is also one of the oldest backs in this class, and while he produced at the collegiate level, UCF hasn’t faced the highest level of competition. On the flip side, he produced at the collegiate level and came up big against ranked opponents — 101 rushing yards vs Oklahoma and 206 yards vs Oklahoma State in 2023, 196 yards vs Iowa State and 127 against BYU in 2024. He rushed for 1,416 yards in 2023 and then posted 1,577 rushing yards in 2024. While Harvey’s most likely outcome in the NFL is a committee back, he does have a strikingly similar prospect profile to successful backs like Maurice Jones-Drew and Ray Rice. As long as draft capital and landing spot aren’t terrible, I’ll be taking shots on RJ Harvey in the later rounds of Dynasty rookie drafts this year.
Author: Lukasz Stec (@Lukasz_FF01)
