With the 60th selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos selected RJ Harvey, a dynamic scoring threat from UCF. Harvey is an incredible threat, considering his blazing speed, great vision, extensive history out of the wildcat, and his former high school experience as a quarterback. For obvious reasons, Harvey immediately received comparisons to Darren Sproles.
He was one of college football's most productive running backs in his final two years of school and figures to be a huge piece to Sean Payton's puzzle offensively. However, Harvey figures to see a lot of snaps in a non-traditional running back role, and likely won't be the team's ground-and-pound back. Based on their draft and free agent moves, that figures to be Audric Estimé, who is a major winner of the draft.
Audric Estimé was a huge winner from Broncos 2025 NFL Draft
The Broncos took Estime in the 5th round of the 2024 draft out of Notre Dame, and flashed at times as the third back for Denver last year. Overall, Estime ran for 310 yards and a pair of scores last year, seeing action in 13 games. Fumble concerns kept him off the field at times, but the Broncos still seem to have a level of confidence in the second-year player. Starting running back Javonte Williams left via free agency, and Jaleel McLaughlin is still on a rookie UDFA contract and has no serious ties to the team long-term. Harvey and McLaughlin have fairly similar profiles, but neither exactly compares to Estime.
Looking at Denver's depth chart, Estimé is the only true ground-and-pound back on Denver's roster. The roster currently carries him, Harvey, McLaughlin, Tyler Badie, and Blake Watson. Badie, Watson, and McLaughlin are all on contracts that carry cap hits of $1 million or under, and all but Watson are in their final year of said deals. Effectively, only Estime and Harvey have a level of long-term commitment from the Broncos.
Estime figures to be Denver's "starting" running back next year. Denver tried to McLaughlin experiment with him receiving the bulk of the touches, and it is safe to say it did not go great. He has given Denver great value as a former UDFA, but he only rushed for about 85 more yards last year than he did in 2023, with 37 more carries.
Ultimately, he did not do nearly enough to be Sharpied in for a big role this year. Beyond that, Harvey is far more explosive than McLaughlin and is a certified receiving threat, which bodes incredibly well in a Sean Payton offense. Ultimately, the Broncos signaled that Audric Estime is in for a big year, and if the kid from Notre Dame can take his chance and run with it, the Broncos could have a star on their hands.