As the Denver Broncos progress toward potentially winning the AFC West division title for the first time since the 2015 season, there is some clear tinkering to be done with the offensive personnel by head coach Sean Payton.
At this point in the year, you're not going to be making wholesale personnel changes, but there is one clear tweak that Payton needs to make, and it's become obvious to just about everyone.
Payton has three healthy running backs at his disposal right now: RJ Harvey, Jaleel McLaughlin, and Tyler Badie. Early in the season, the Broncos were using Badie as a third-down specialist as Harvey got up to speed with blitz pickups, but that's no longer a struggle. After the Chiefs game on Christmas night, it's abundantly clear that Payton needs to simply use Harvey on the snaps he continues to give to Tyler Badie.
Sean Payton needs to give Tyler Badie's role to RJ Harvey for playoff stretch
With 72 offensive snaps against the Chiefs overall, it may seem trivial to be complaining about a guy playing eight of those snaps. But those eight snaps are eight snaps that could (should) be going to rookie running back RJ Harvey.
The Broncos are playing Harvey more than ever before, and he just got 47 snaps against the Chiefs. That's his second-highest snap total of the season so far, and it's clear that he's earned a bigger role within the offense.
When Badie comes into the game, the Broncos are telegraphing their intent, which is a large portion of the problem. Anytime No. 28 checks into the game, the opposing team knows it's going to be a passing play. The Broncos simply do not hand the ball off to Badie, who has six total rushing attempts this season on 183 snaps played.
It's a deliberate telegraph of strategy.
Harvey, on the other hand, has been one of the best dual-threat players in the NFL. In fact, he's one of just three rookies in NFL history (Gale Sayers and Alvin Kamara the others) to have seven or more rushing touchdowns and five or more receiving touchdowns.
When Harvey is on the field, the entire playbook is open. The Broncos simply cannot afford to allow defenses to know they are throwing the ball in situations where Badie is out there.
The Broncos are 13-3 this season, so it's not like this is the biggest deal. They have also had a ton of success running their two-minute offense, which is typically when Badie is out there this season. However, it's about time Sean Payton realized he'd be better off just giving those snaps to his talented rookie.