The Denver Broncos are fielding one of the best rosters in the NFL ahead of, what could be, the most important season in team history. In today's NFL, it's never been more important to draft and develop, and after a rocky start to his tenure, General Manager George Paton has seen many of his draft picks develop.
Paton has been widely respected as an NFL Draft guru, and that has been the case with the Broncos. At this point, the team doesn't appear to have a weakness, which could even include the running back position, a unit that hasn't held up its end of the bargain in recent years.
Recently, though, the Broncos have rebuilt the room with J.K. Dobbins, Jonah Coleman, and RJ Harvey. This could end up being a formidable trio in 2026, and if this prediction comes true, Paton himself would look like a total genius.
Denver Broncos' RB Jonah Coleman dubbed as a breakout candidate for the team in 2026
In CBS Sports, Tyler Sullivan talked about why Coleman could be a breakout candidate for the Broncos in 2026:
"Denver selected Coleman with the 108th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. While Day 3 picks typically don't garner a ton of attention, Coleman should. The Broncos brought back J.K. Dobbins on a two-year extension, but the veteran has monumental durability concerns, including a 2025 Lisfranc injury. Meanwhile, 2025 second-round pick RJ Harvey wasn't able to carry the full workload effectively after he went down. If Dobbins again struggles to stay on the field, there's a path for Coleman to play significant snaps, even if it's not paved out in front of him right now."
Much of Sullivan's argument here does stem around Dobbins not being able to stay on the field, but there is always a chance that can happen. With these three players, each one could fit into a specific role that maximizes their skill sets.
Dobbins is clearly the RB1 of this team. He's not a bell-cow, but he's always an efficient ball-carrier, and with Coleman being great in pass protection and Harvey being a great receiving threat, Dobbins can be deployed to eat up the most yards as a pure runner.
However, seeing as Dobbins has never played a full season in his career, the most likely outcome could be that he misses some time, which could give Coleman the chance to take over his carries. His ability to understand where rushing lanes are opening and his protection of the football, having only lost one fumble in four college seasons, make him a perfect potential RB1.
In an ideal world, all three running backs stay healthy and help this rushing attack finish as one of the most efficient in the NFL, but Coleman already being looked at as a breakout candidate is flat-out awesome.
He does much of the dirty work quite well, which helps project his role in the pros. The Broncos may have to lean on Coleman as the lead back at some point in 2026, and it very much appears like his skill set can allow him to thrive in that role.
Add us as a preferred source on Google