The Denver Broncos probably should have ended up in the Super Bowl last season, but Bo Nix broke his foot, and that’s all she wrote. They traded for Jaylen Waddle in the offseason and drafted Jonah Coleman, so the offense should look a tad different this season. Let’s take a look at the 2026 Denver Broncos’ fantasy football sleeper, undervalued, and overvalued players!
Hint: they’re all running backs, as I don’t think this backfield is being properly tuned in by the industry and drafters.
Sleeper: Jonah Coleman, Running Back (RB56, Pick 177 OVR)
The rookie running back was a three-down back at Washington who fumbled just one time. He’s one of the best pass protectors in the class, which will get him on the field immediately and will make it very difficult to take him off the field.
Coleman can make guys miss in small spaces, shaking off indirect tacklers, and his low center of gravity & superb contact balance make it difficult to bring him down. He frequently will carry a defender three or four extra yards, or not go down when a tackler tries to spin him down to the ground.
He’s also a patient back, capable of processing a crowded line of scrimmage well, rarely running into a defender. Unfortunately, this sometimes devolves into dancing in the backfield. If he finds a hole, he is exceptional at stacking moves in the open field, as his vision and craftiness offset his lack of top speed.
Coleman is also an adept pass catcher, which will also make him a multi-dimensional threat at the NFL level. Unfortunately, he plays a lot smaller than his size. When you watch him, you come away equally impressed with his skills, but also a little disappointed that he went down with some of the tackles sent his way.
However, Coleman is a great draft and stash candidate for any league that has ten or more managers. Sean Payton loves a multi-back room, and he slots right into the J.K. Dobbins side of the platoon the moment he gets the opportunity to produce, and should send RJ Harvey to the nether realm.
Undervalued: J.K. Dobbins, RB (RB35, Pick 97 OVR)
I’m well aware of the Dobbins reputation at this point: he hasn’t played a full season in his career, and missed at least four games in each of the last five seasons. But, at some point, he is going to play a full seventeen games. And when he does, it will be incredible. Last season, he performed admirably in Sean Payton’s system, posting 15 carries for 77 yards per game (5.0 yards per attempt) while kicking in a catch per game, on just over 50% of snaps. Sean Payton managed him well, but a foot injury wiped away the rest of his season. Dobbins was a big play machine, averaging more than a breakaway run per game, and carrying the sixteenth-best juke rate.
The only knock on Dobbins is his health, as RJ Harvey didn’t impress last season (more on that in a second), and Jonah Coleman will not threaten Dobbins, as long as Dobbins is healthy. He should not go as the second running back in this backfield, as Harvey is not good.
Overvalued: RJ Harvey, Ball Carrier (RB31, Pick 85 OVR)
Harvey is recovering from a torn labrum suffered in the playoff loss to the Patriots, but before then, he was the less impressive running back in the backfield. His best skill is as a pass catcher, and he could slide into a J.D. McKissic/Theo Riddick role as a pass-catching specialist, but the idea that he could take over the backfield is complete bunk. After Dobbins’ injury, Harvey had 13.7 carries per game, for 46.6 yards, or 3.4 yards per attempt. He ranked 41st in juke rate, and 24th in yards created per touch. He just isn’t a good ball carrier. But he is a very good pass catcher. He ranked sixth in yards per route run, and averaged four targets and three catches as the starter. A lot of his fantasy production came as the sole running back getting carries, which led to six touchdowns in his seven games as a starter.
With a healthy J.K. Dobbins last season, Harvey averaged five carries for 21 yards per game, with three targets for 17.5 yards through the air. He would have to grow in this role to have fantasy value or stave off the return of Dobbins, as well as the Coleman acquisition, to return value. I don’t see that happening, and I don’t see a world where Jonah Coleman should be the first Denver running back off of the board.
