Mile High Report
Should the Broncos sign running back J.K. Dobbins in free agency?
It’s not secret the Denver Broncos will be looking to add to the running back position this offseason. With Javonte Williams set to depart and overall underperformance of the entire group last season after the offensive line graded as one of the best run blocking units in the league, improving at running back has to be one of the team’s top priorities in 2025.
One player they might look at bringing in is former Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers running back, J.K. Dobbins.
Player: J.K. Dobbins
Position: Running back
Height: 5-10
Weight: 215 pounds
Age: 26 years old
Experience: 6th NFL season
While Dobbins is entering his sixth NFL season, he is still just 26 years old and doesn’t have a whole lot of tread on the tires in this league. Until last season, he had each of his 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons derailed fairly early on by injury. He tore his ACL in 2021, suffered another knee injury midway through the 2022 season, then tore his Achilles tendon in 2023.
With an injury history like that, you’d think a young running back would be done in the NFL. Instead, he bounced back with a vengeance last year with the Chargers. While he still missed a few games due to injury, he played in 13 games and piled up a career highs in yards (905) and in touchdowns (9).
That he was able to achieve that despite all of the setbacks early on in his career suggests that he has recovered fully from those early injuries and is ready to entire his prime years as a featured NFL back.
As noted above, I think the injury history may scare the Broncos away here. The team is moving on from Javonte Williams because of the drop-off in production after a bad knee injury and to go from that to a player with three times as many injuries in his career seems highly unlikely.
I also talked about another concern in a recent Mile High Broncos podcast below. If you look at his game log last year, Dobbins was a feast or famine running back. In eight games last year, he averaged 3.8 yards per carry or less. In four games, he averaged 6.1 yards per carry or more. He had just two games between 3.9 and 6.0 yards per carry.
In my opinion, the Broncos will need a more consistent running back.
I think the Broncos should pass on J.K. Dobbins. It’s not just the injury history, but also the game-by-game production last season. I feel like they’d trade Javonte Williams for a slightly better version of him and that just isn’t enough for a team with playoff aspirations.
On the contract side, PFF projected that Dobbins will command...
