JK Dobbins had 20 total touches (17 runs and 3 catches) on Thursday night in the Denver Broncos' overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks. The non-QB with the second-most touches was RJ Harvey with 9. Dobbins gained 46 yards on those 20 touches. Harvey gained 56 on those 9.
If you remove the 16 yards that Dobbins gained on his one explosive run, he gained 30 yards on those other 19 touches.
JK Dobbins had 20 touches last night for 46 yards. If you take out his 16 yard run, he had 19 touches for 30 yards. pic.twitter.com/gmZKrpAVMx
— Joe Mahoney (@ndjomo76) October 16, 2026
Runs | Dobbins Gain on Run vs SEA (yds) |
|---|---|
1 | 16 |
4 | 3 |
3 | 3 |
2 | 4 |
1 | 2 |
0 | 6 |
-1 | 1 |
Nine of Dobbins' runs were for 1 yard or less; in other words, more than half of his runs went absolutely nowhere. In his defense, Ben Powers was getting destroyed on any running play where he didn't pull. Dobbins was getting hit at or behind the line often, but against the same defense with the same offensive line, RJ Harvey got 25 yards on six carries. To put it another way, Dobbins got 2.4 yards per carry last night while Harvey got 4.2. Tyler Badie carried the ball one time for 6 yards (and left due to an injury).
JK Dobbins needs to be benched, and hopefully the Broncos realize it
While giving Harvey the majority of the carries is not going to fix the Broncos' broken run game, it will at least give the Broncos a chance for explosive runs. Right now, Dobbins is running like a plodder with no explosion, limited vision, no ability to break tackles, and not enough speed to break long runs.
Another point that needs to be mentioned is that the Seahawks' run defense is really good. They are currently 4th in yards per carry allowed. The only poor run defense that the Broncos have faced this season was the Rams, who are currently 24th.The other defenses are 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 9th (JAX, SEA, KC, SF, and LAC). For what it's worth, the next two opponents are 16th and 32nd in run defense.
An explosive run gains 12 or more yards. Dobbins has 5 on 81 carries so far this season - 6.2 percent - which is low. For comparison, Kenneth Walker has 11 runs that gained 12 or more on 87 attempts - 12.6 percent. James Cook has 13 on 95 attempts - 13.7 percent.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Dobbins is dead last in rushing yards over expected (YOE) per attempt. This means that an average RB would be able to gain X yards on a play, and a good RB will gain more, while a bad RB will gain less.
Dobbins is losing 0.90 YOE/carry, which is the worst in the NFL among qualifiers. Chase Brown is second worst at -0.70 YOE/carry. No other Denver runner has enough rushes to qualify for the table. Walker is leading this stat at 2.52.
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