The Denver Broncos were a healthy quarterback away from securing a berth in the Super Bowl this past season. Based on how the AFC Championship Game went, it's clear that a healthy Bo Nix would have been plenty for the Broncos to get past the New England Patriots.
The season ended on a dud, unfortunately, and it really felt like a massive heartbreak and a giant 'what if,' as there wa always going to be a chance that Nix and the Broncos would have beaten the Seattle Seahawks in the final game of the 2025 NFL Season.
Nix wasn't the only notable Broncos player absent for part of the playoffs, though, as the team had lost running back J.K. Dobbins to a season-ending foot injury in Week 10, and his loss proved to be flat-out massive, and he just got even more fuel for a bounceback season this year.
Denver Broncos' RB J.K. Dobbins ranked just 28th in the NFL by PFF
Dalton Wasserman and Max Chadwick of PFF ranked all 32 starting running backs for the 2026 NFL Season, and the Broncos own Dobbins came in 28th, which does feel quite low:
"The story of Dobbins’ career has been both unfortunate and consistent: Productive play stunted by injuries. That was the case again in 2025, when he averaged 5.0 yards per carry and ranked 18th among qualified running backs with an 80.8 PFF rushing grade. However, he suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 10, which severely hampered the Broncos’ run game from that point forward. Despite that, Denver handed Dobbins a fresh two-year contract, displaying its belief in his efficiency when healthy."
The ranking of 28th in the NFL does seem to be a bit contradictory with their argument, doesn't it? They list that Dobbins 'rushing grade' in 2025 was 18th in the NFL, they also then further note that the team's run game was 'severely hampered' when Dobbins was out of the lineup.
If nothing else, Dobbins should be in the early 20s just based on how they are arguing this. Notable running backs ranked ahead of Dobbins here are guys like Chuba Hubbard, David Montgomery, Quinshon Judkins, Cam Skattebo, and Jeremiyah Love (who has never taken a snap in the NFL).
Judkins averaged less than 4.0 yards per carry as a rookie, Skattebo only played in eight games and averaged just 4.1 yards per carry, and I am just not sure why Love, a rookie, would be ranked over any veteran, to be honest.
This does seem like an unfair ranking to Dobbinns, who has proven time and time again that he's an efficient player. Yes, the injuries have kind of ruined what could have been an elite career up to this point, but injuries happen.
And it really did not seem like Dobbins was struggling with any sort of lesser injury before the foot injury he suffered in 2025, so this came out of nowhere. I am not sure an NFL player with injury concerns even needs motivation to begin with, as Dobbins surely wants to stay on the field for 17 games and prove people wrong, but this ranking is absolutely enough to light another fire under him.
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