The Broncos don’t need another reminder that their backfield is fragile, but they got one anyway.
On Thursday’s injury report ahead of the matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, second-year running back RJ Harvey showed up with a knee injury and was listed as “limited.” The injury reportedly happened at practice, and it lands at a moment when Denver can least afford more uncertainty at running back.
That’s why the Jonathan Taylor conversation can’t wait much longer.
Denver has already lived through the kind of season-ending backfield mess that can wreck an offense. Last year, the team had one of the league’s worst rushing attacks after JK Dobbins went down in Week 10, and that injury came just days after the NFL trade deadline.
At the time, the Broncos believed they were set at running back. Instead, they were left with Harvey not ready for a full-time job and nobody else stepping into it.
The offseason didn’t clean everything up, either. The Broncos were linked to running backs in free agency, but the market moved fast. Breece Hall was franchise tagged by the Jets, taking one target off the board, while Kenneth Walker and Travis Etienne ended up with the Chiefs and Saints, respectively.
Dobbins also drew interest from the Jaguars early in free agency, but Denver re-signed him and rolled the dice again, even if Sean Payton doesn’t like that phrase.
The Broncos used the 2026 NFL Draft to add Jonah Coleman in the fourth round, and he has flashed enough to look like a possible stud. Still, he has only 24 touches as an NFL back and already had a four-game stint on IR. For a team chasing a Super Bowl this season, that’s a risky place to be leaning too hard on a young player.
Tyler Badie is also on injured reserve with a thumb injury, and he’s not a full-time answer anyway. Even Dobbins has been nudged down the depth chart, with Denver effectively demoting him in the win over the Arizona Cardinals and putting Coleman and Harvey ahead of him.
Now Harvey is back on the report, after already missing the Week 2 game against Jacksonville because of a hamstring injury. That makes the situation impossible to ignore.
The Broncos simply can’t keep trusting this setup if they’re serious about contending right now.
Meanwhile, the Colts are setting off every rebuild signal they can. They have already moved Quenton Nelson to the Seahawks and DeForest Buckner to the 49ers earlier this week, which makes the Jonathan Taylor question impossible to avoid. He may not be the centerpiece of their future, and his value isn’t likely to get higher from here.
That’s exactly why Denver should be calling.
Taylor would be a major lift for any team, but especially for the Broncos, who need more than hope at the position. Dobbins has struggled badly this season, sitting 112th out of 120 backs in total EPA and ranking 76th in the league with 3.37 yards per carry. He’s not generating yards after contact, and the expanded role he received against the Chargers and Seahawks hasn’t changed that reality.
If Denver makes an offer before Week 8, it does two things at once: it starts the conversation and it forces Indianapolis to react. The Colts then have to decide whether they’d really turn down a strong offer.
They’d also have to answer the question of Taylor’s Sunday status. If he sits, that signals a trade path.
If he plays, they risk injury and could lose the chance to move him altogether.
Either way, Harvey’s latest injury is the clearest warning sign yet. The Broncos have their answer in front of them now.
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Kansas City remains the measuring stick in the AFC West, and this one could shape how the race looks heading into the seasons final stretch. A Denver win would tighten the picture considerably, while a loss would make the climb steeper and leave the Broncos needing to chase the division from behind as the battle figures to stay tight deep into the year. [Read more 🡒]