JK Dobbins proved in one game why Broncos moved on from Javonte Williams

It didn't take very long for new running back JK Dobbins to justify the Denver Broncos moving on from former second-round pick Javonte Williams in the 2025 offseason.

Although the Broncos weren't overly committed to the running game in the 1st half of their win against the Tennessee Titans, they really put some nice things together in the second half, finishing with 151 total rushing yards on the afternoon, the 7th-most rushing yards of any team in the NFL in Week 1.

While we got a huge run from RJ Harvey that also proved why the Broncos overhauled their running back room, we also got a game from JK Dobbins that simply wasn't possible last year with Javonte Williams in Denver as the lead back.

JK Dobbins quickly proving his value to Broncos offense

In Dobbins's first game with the Broncos, he carried the ball 16 times for 63 yards and a 19-yard touchdown among his carries.

In the final six games of Javonte Williams's time with the Broncos, he carried the ball 27 times for 66 yards and one touchdown. The Broncos couldn't even rely on Williams enough to hand him the ball in his final handful of games with the team, even though he provided value on third downs in pass protection.

Essentially, the 2025 offseason provided Williams with a chance at a much-needed change of scenery. After hurting his knee back in 2022, Williams struggled in both the 2023 and 2024 seasons as Denver's lead back. He had a solid debut with the Cowboys in Week 1, rushing for 54 yards and a pair of scores as Dallas attempted to upset the Eagles.

But what Williams did with the Cowboys in his debut there is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is, he showed a lack of vision, burst, and tackle-breaking ability that Dobbins immediately brought to the table.

This kind of yardage after contact is what many in Denver were expecting from Williams, but he didn't provide anything remotely resembling this after his rookie season.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Dobbins faced a stacked box (8+ players) nearly 44 percent of the time in Week 1. Compare that to Williams, who faced a stacked box less than 27 percent of the time and averaged just 3.6 yards per carry.

It wasn't a perfect debut for Dobbins, but it gave us a glimpse of exactly why the Broncos overhauled that position group. For the majority of the game against the Titans, we weren't exactly seeing the most effective running game operation from the Broncos, but they made up for it in the 4th quarter.

And Dobbins quickly proved how he can be a major asset as the Broncos pursue an AFC West title.