Sean Payton didn’t need much time to size up Jonah Coleman’s Broncos debut.
After the rookie running back turned four carries into 24 yards in Denver’s 27-7 preseason win over the Atlanta Falcons on Friday, Payton’s assessment was simple: the tape matched the reputation.
“Just what we've been seeing, right? And then you see enough of it, and you're like, all right," Payton told reporters.
"Look, he's had a good camp, and I liked his balance coming out of some of the tackles. I thought overall, the group had a good night.”
Coleman, a fourth-round pick out of Washington, was one of the clearest bright spots at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He averaged 6.0 yards per carry and ripped off a 13-yard run, tying for the team lead in rushing yards among active Broncos backs.
With veteran starter J.K. Dobbins inactive, Denver spread the workload around, and Coleman shared touches with RJ Harvey, Jaleel McLaughlin, Tyler Badie and Cody Schrader.
McLaughlin also finished with 24 rushing yards, but he needed two more carries to get there and lost a fumble.
As a group, the Broncos controlled the line of scrimmage against Atlanta. Denver piled up 162 rushing yards, averaged 4.2 yards per carry and held the ball for more than 36 minutes.
“I was pleased with that. I thought the runners played well and I thought we blocked them pretty well.
It's kind of a heavy front; they’ll play some base. I know we had one fumble, but those guys ran hard.”
Coleman wasn’t flawless in his first preseason outing. His pass protection still has work to do. Even so, it was easy to see why Denver moved quickly to draft the 22-year-old in April.
And with more reps, Coleman looks like the back who could eventually push past Dobbins on the depth chart, whether that happens this season or next.
He also fits the offensive approach under new coordinator Davis Webb, a system that leans into the kind of traits Payton values.
“He did a number of things on tape or was exposed to certain protections maybe that a lot of college backs weren’t," Payton said on Aug. 12.
"So you feel an older player or a veteran player, and you saw that on tape. You saw the runs that we run, some protections.
You had a chance to see more of it maybe than you do with some other guys.”
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