The Broncos haven’t found much of anything on offense through four games, which makes their 2-2 start feel a little wild on its face. Somehow, they’ve already banked wins over Jacksonville and the Los Angeles Rams, and now the schedule starts to ease up a bit as the six-game grind to open the 2026 season winds down.
That doesn’t mean Week 5 is a free pass. The Los Angeles Chargers are a divisional opponent, so even if the matchup looks softer than it did before the year began, it still has the ingredients to get messy.
If Denver wants a real shot at waking up its offense, the run game has to be part of the fix. And right now, that points straight toward second-year back RJ Harvey.
Harvey has only 12 carries on the season, while J.K. Dobbins has handled 46.
That usage gap stands out even more when you look at the production. Harvey has turned those 12 carries into 49 yards, good for 4.1 yards per carry, and he’s sitting on 181 scrimmage yards through four games on 32 total touches.
His 5.7 yards per touch tops Dobbins’ 3.6 and Jonah Coleman’s 4.5.
Coleman, who is out until at least October 25th, had 10 carries for 39 yards in his two games. But even with Coleman in the picture, Harvey has looked like the back Denver should be building around.
The numbers make the case pretty cleanly. Dobbins has 49 touches through four games, yet the production just hasn’t matched the workload.
Harvey has 17 fewer touches and has been the more efficient runner by a wide margin. That kind of split doesn’t line up with what the Broncos need from this position.
The team’s ground game has been one of the least productive in football. Denver is averaging 81.3 rushing yards per game, which ranks fourth-worst in the league, and 3.6 yards per carry, which ranks fifth-worst.
That’s not a small issue. That’s the kind of inefficiency that drags down everything else around it.
Dobbins was excellent in the 10 games he played last year, but what Denver has gotten in 2026 has been a disappointment. The front office has already shown a willingness to shake up this room, and on paper the group still has the look of one of the more talented backfields in football when everyone is healthy.
The problem is touch distribution. There are enough skill sets here to make it hard to feed all three top backs evenly, but that doesn’t mean the Broncos have to keep treating them the same.
If the goal is simply to get the offense moving, Harvey looks like the obvious answer. He has been Denver’s most efficient back, and the Broncos should give him the 1A workload out of the backfield until he shows he can’t handle it.
In Other News...
Sean Payton Just Sent A Clear Message About Denver's Offense
Sean Payton has moved back to the controls on offense, resuming play-calling duties after previously handing that job to Davis Webb. Its a notable reset for a Broncos attack that has sputtered early in the 2026 season, with the kind of uneven production that has left the unit searching for traction.
Payton said the change was about the bigger picture of team performance and responsibility, which gives the shift a pretty clear meaning inside the building. For Denver, the larger question now is whether putting the head coach back in the headset can steady an offense that has struggled across the board and needs a different feel quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Broncos Suddenly Have A Huge Opening In This Chargers Matchup
The Broncos head into their Week 5 trip to face the Chargers with a familiar kind of tension around the injury report, even as a few names have started to move in the right direction at practice. Adam Trautman and another Broncos player nicknamed Tillman were full participants, which at least gives Denver a little more depth as it tries to get through a division game that already feels important in the AFC West race.
What makes this matchup feel especially interesting from Denvers side is that Los Angeles has its own protection issues up front, creating a possible opening the Broncos will be eager to test. At the same time, Denver is bracing for key absences of its own in the secondary, with several defensive regulars dealing with ankle injuries, so the margin for error may be thin on both sides as the injury report continues to shape the game plan. [Read more 🡒]
Broncos Offense Keeps Struggling But Players Are Still Backing Davis Webb
Through four games, the Broncos offense has had a hard time finding any real rhythm under offensive coordinator Davis Webb, and the results have already stirred plenty of conversation around the building. The unit has lagged in several key areas, but the message from inside the locker room has been less about blame and more about sticking with the process and getting the details cleaned up.
Adam Trautman and Mike McGlinchey are among the players still voicing support for Webb, pointing to his potential and the belief that the offense can improve with better execution. There is a shared understanding that the issues are on everyone, not just the play-caller, and for now the Broncos are keeping the focus on fixing what has gone wrong rather than looking for a quick reset. [Read more 🡒]