Sean Payton repeating history with Broncos RB RJ Harvey (and fans will love it)

You can clearly see RJ Harvey getting more comfortable in this league as his rookie regular season finishes up. Not only has he taken steps in pass protection, which was the primary weakness of his game, but it feels like he's getting into the end zone just about every game at this point.

Denver took Harvey in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft but also signed JK Dobbins in June. Dobbins was on pace to shatter the 1,000-yard mark on the ground, but he went down with a foot injury about seven weeks ago. Since then, Harvey has been the primary back in the room, and he's clearly showing the NFL world why he was a second-round pick.

Harvey had a receiving touchdown in the team's Week 17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, and with that touchdown, the rookie from UCF joined some elite company among all-time rookie running backs.

RJ Harvey just joined some elite company among rookie running backs

Harvey has now become the sixth rookie running back all-time with at least five receiving and five rushing touchdowns in his rookie season, joining some great names, but also joining Alvin Kamara, a former running back of Sean Payton's who had a special stint when Payton was with the Saints:

Harvey now has 863 yards from scrimmage and 12 total touchdowns this year, averaging a solid 4.9 yards per touch. Here is what he is on pace to finish with in his rookie regular season:

188 touches
917 yards
13 touchdowns

In Alvin Kamara's rookie season, he finished with this stat-line:

201 touches
1,554 yards
13 touchdowns

Kamara had a ton of yards, but RJ Harvey is on pace for 13 touchdowns in his rookie season, which is what Kamara had. It's clear that Sean Payton has a vision of Harvey having a similar role to what Kamara had when both were with the New Orleans Saints.

The primary thing to figure out going forward is who that other running back is - JK Dobbins played very well for Denver this year but is injury-prone, so the Broncos might want to go in a different direction. Furthermore, Harvey might be best suited in more of a 1a-1b type of role.

If you asked me what I think is going to happen; I think the Broncos re-sign JK Dobbins on a cheap-ish one or two-year deal and have somewhat of a 50/50 touches split in the backfield in 2026 between he and Harvey.

This could keep both running backs fresh and maximize their skillsets, as it's clear that RJ Harvey is a special talent.