Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BREAKING: Denver Broncos Sign J.K. Dobbins, RB Competition Battle HEATS UP

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos may have just added the final missing piece of their offensive puzzle in 2025. Free agent running back, J.K. Dobbins, has officially signed a one-year deal. And we're breaking down that move, what it means for the rest of the running backs on today's emergency episode, Locked-on Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. J.K. Dobbins is officially in the fold for the Denver Broncos podcast. Broncos in 2025 signing a one-year deal worth $5.25 million or up to $5.5 million.

Starting point is 00:00:44 And Broncos country, there's a lot to talk about with this move when it comes to just generally the running back room as a whole. Who is J.K. Dobbins going to be taking carries from? Who could potentially lose their job because of this addition? What is the financial aspect of this all mean? because 5.25 million is no small chunk of change. We're going to break it all down as we anticipate the arrival of potentially the next starting running back in Denver.

Starting point is 00:01:12 But Broncos country, thanks so much for making us part of your day. However you choose to do so, here at lockdown Broncos, we want to be your go-to source for all things Denver Broncos. And we want to have you covered. And no matter what happens, right, J.K. Dobbins signs a deal. We want to jump on and chat about it with every single one of you for all you, every day listeners of the show. We appreciate you. If you haven't done so already, go ahead, hit subscribe right now, wherever you listen to podcasts, as well as on YouTube. And look,

Starting point is 00:01:41 the JK Dobbins move is significant for the Denver Broncos. We got a chance to kind of talk about it a little bit last week because the Broncos brought in JK Dobbins for a visit. And this was no small ordeal, right? They actually flew him in for a visit that spanned multiple days. They took him out to eat and they brought him to the team facility. The next. day. Ultimately, Dobbins left initially without a contract, but there was always this idea that, hey, there's mutual interest, kind of felt like it was a good fit between the two parties. You can't help but wonder how much Nick Chubb signing with the Houston Texans maybe played a role in just the urgency of getting this deal done. But the Broncos, again, according to multiple

Starting point is 00:02:21 reports, they have signed Dobbins to a one-year contract that is worth up to $5.25 million. And that is a significant amount because it ties the highest average annual value of any deal signed for a free agent running back in 2025. And ironically, the other player that signed the high contract is Najee Harris, who signed on with the Los Angeles Chargers. So the Broncos not exactly in competition with the Los Angeles Chargers in terms of, hey, we want to see who can sign the highest price running back. but definitely ended up competing. Naji, of course, got $5.25 million in fully guaranteed money. That is not the case for J.K. Dobbins. We're kind of waiting to find out what the guaranteed money looks like there.

Starting point is 00:03:09 It looks like $2.5 million in potentially reachable incentives, which is a smart deal on the Broncos behalf because we know J.K. Dobbins has missed a lot of time due to injury in recent years. But what has he done when he's been on the field? Well, last year for the Los Angeles Chargers, Dobbins was second in the NFL, an NFL comeback player of the year voting, had a tremendous season for them, played 13 games in the regular season, ended up with over 1,000 yards from scrimmage, over 900 yards rushing, nine rushing touchdowns last year for the Chargers. So was really productive, but more so than just running for a certain number of yards. I think what J.K. Dobbins brought to the table in terms of yards after contact and broken tackles is what really interests me. I was always on board the don't sign a veteran running back train. Draft two guys if you really want to add to this position. But after drafting R.J. Harvey in the

Starting point is 00:04:10 later portion of the second round, the Broncos obviously felt like they needed a little bit more experience in that running back group. And it just so happens that, yes, he does come with the injury risk attached and what free agent acquisition for the Broncos this year hasn't come with that. But J.K. Dobbins last year finished seventh in the NFL in yards after contact per rushing attempt. And that wouldn't be as significant if it wasn't for the fact that he was still up there amongst the leaders in carries who were, you know, ranking high in that statistical category. He also ranked fourth in the NFL with 24 total broken tackles. Now, that might be an even more impressive stat because he didn't receive as many carries as somebody like Derek Henry,

Starting point is 00:04:53 who's obviously breaking a lot of tackles there for the Baltimore Ravens. J.K. Dobbins was able to do that on an impressive, you know, number of carries in terms of, hey, he's breaking a lot of tackles every time he goes out there, essentially. So Dobbins, he showed, especially early last season, that he can be effective, whether it's a, hey, we need you to give us 20 carries in this game. We need you to give us 10 carries. He can do it all. and he flashed that athletic, you know, that athletic prowess that he had coming out of Ohio State once upon a time that I think a lot of folks felt, man, this guy's going to be a really good pro, a second round pick for the Baltimore Ravens. And unfortunately, just injuries derailed what was otherwise a very promising start to his career.

Starting point is 00:05:39 But still only 26 years old. Now Dobbins has a chance to continue to resurrect his NFL career in the AFC West. And he's got a chance to kind of get back. at the Chargers a couple of times, right? And you really love that from the Broncos perspective. Of course, you've got a guy that's playing on a one-year deal. He's going to want to go prove himself, but, you know, get out there on the field against the L.A. Chargers, he's going to want to, he's going to have an extra, a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, right? So you bring in a guy that's still relatively young and gives you that upside. I think that Giovante Williams didn't give you,

Starting point is 00:06:11 right? The Broncos over the last two years, they kind of tried to make things work with Giovante Williams. They made him their featured runner. He was the guy who led the team and touches the last couple of seasons. Unfortunately, just didn't return to that pre-ACL form that we saw from him back as a rookie when he was the one dragging tacklers, breaking tackles all over the place, showing three-down ability. J.K. Dobbins has the ability to do that as well as bringing to the table something in Denver Broncos didn't really have on the roster, right? Pass protection. That is something that Javante Williams was quite good at and a role that he vacated that the Broncos don't necessarily have anybody proven in that regard.

Starting point is 00:06:54 I know Sean Payton recently said that Tyler Bade is good at that, but Tyler Bade is not a lock for the roster. And so you get a player like J.K. Dobbins, who's going to come in. He's going to be a lock for the roster, assuming that he's healthy. And right now, he's healthy. So we're expecting that to be the case. J.K. Dobbins brings to you a three down back who can do everything. and the Broncos are going to be able to bring along RJ Harvey at the pace that they want to.

Starting point is 00:07:21 And certainly you figure that's going to be the two-headed monster for this team at the running back position. And we're going to talk about the implications for other players here in a little bit. But J.K. Dobbins, a pretty darn good free agent to be available this late in the offseason. Again, early in the off season before the draft, felt like it was kind of ill-advised to sort of kill that need with fire in a weaker free agency class. Right. This last year's free agent class was bonkers, otherworldly stuff with, you know, Derek Henry, Saquan Barkley, Josh Jacobs, those guys all going in the same free agent class. This year didn't have that. Again, the highest paid guy on an average annual value scale before J.K. Dobbins signed in Denver was Najee Harris at 5.25 million. So now you bring in Dobbins into the fold.

Starting point is 00:08:10 you give him a fair contract with achievable incentives and we'll find out eventually what those incentives are. But certainly this guy is going to be a factor in your rotation at that price point, right? You're not signing him to the tide for the highest average annual value among NFL free agent running backs this year just to come in and ride the pine. He is going to play a significant role and he brings some good skills to the table. He still got the burst. He clocked close to 20 miles per hour on the in-game GPS last year.

Starting point is 00:08:42 So he still got the ability to burn you a little bit with some speed. But it's really going to be the yardage after contact and broken tackles playing behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. In fact, the Broncos, they dominated last year in terms of run block win rate and past block win rate. Sean Peyton and George Peyton, they've already said the offensive line was one of our two highest graded position groups on the entire team last. year. You need running backs that can come in and feast on that. So what did the Broncos done? They go out and get a guy that was top five last year in broken tackles. And you draft the guy who

Starting point is 00:09:18 general manager, George Payton said in RJ Harvey has maybe the best vision of any back in the rookie class and a deep class of running backs at that. So Broncos country, it's an exciting move for the team. Certainly at this point in the offseason, you love that competition is going to bring out the best in guys, but unfortunately, there are also casualties of competition, right? What is going to happen with Jaliel McLaughlin? What is going to happen with Audrick Estime, Blake Watson, Tyler Badegh, we're going to break down the impact on the current players on the roster on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos.

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Starting point is 00:11:39 We know how things ended late last season, right, where he was benched for the playoff game. And you figure that doesn't really mean anything going into year two. A young player like that, he's going to get the slate wiped clean. And certainly a talented guy like that, the Broncos said they had a third round grade on this guy who was, you know, over 900 yards. after contact at Notre Dame, only 20 years old coming into the NFL, one of the youngest players in the league last season, the youngest player on the Denver Broncos roster. Figure that guy's going to get to kind of reshuffle the deck and try again this offseason. But the Broncos are not going to hand Odrick estimate anything, obviously, because now they're

Starting point is 00:12:20 bringing in J.K. Dobbins at a price point that says, hey, this guy is going to play. Like, J.K. Dobbins is probably going to be the guy running out of the tunnel for you in week one. And if he's healthy, if everybody's healthy and all things are equal, J.K. Dobbins is probably the guy that's running out of the tunnel right before Bo Nix or right before Cortland Sutton, right? He's going to be the starting running back. Does that mean that he's going to lead the team and carries this season? Not necessarily. Does it mean that he's going to lead the team in touches? Not necessarily. Does it mean that Odrick Estimate is not going to play at all? Not necessarily. But what it does mean is that the assumption that Audrick estimate after the NFL draft. that he was going to be, all right, he's in contention for that starting running back job. He's going to be the sort of the thunder to RJ Harvey's lightning, right?

Starting point is 00:13:11 That's no longer an assumption that we can make because you bring in a guy like Dobbins, he is going to get a significant chunk of the carries in the backfield, which if you're a fantasy football player out there, you might be lamenting a little bit the idea that, well, RJ Harvey Harvey, he's not going to get the most of the target share in Denver now. And maybe that is going to be the case. But for somebody like Audric Estime and for people who care more about the Broncos team building and player development, this is a clear indicator that Estimate needs to have a big training camp.

Starting point is 00:13:46 Sean Payton said, and he wasn't going to comment too much about the JK Dobbins deal on Tuesday when the deal was announced by all the NFL reporters out there. But what Sean Payton did say is that you shouldn't be. making any determinations about the roster right now. Like you can predict all you want what the 53 is going to look like. You can predict all you want what the depth chart is going to look like, but we just don't know. know that money talks and we do know that J.K. Dobbins, again, and I'll reiterate this

Starting point is 00:14:15 because it's an important fact to note, highest average annual value tied for the highest at running back this offseason. The Broncos paid a decent value to get him in the building. Obviously, they recruited him to come in. so we can safely assume that maybe some promises were made or that they pitched him on a specific role with this team. And of course, he's signing a one-year deal in Denver in hopes of cashing in next offseason. So he's not going to sign for a one-year deal in Denver to say, hey, why don't you come in and

Starting point is 00:14:44 compete for us? Why don't you come in and just kind of be out there at training camp? This isn't a camp body kind of move. So, Adric Estime, he's now going to have to beat out Jolil McLaughlin, who has to be. is a Sean Payton guy. He's going to have to beat out Blake Watson, who was a priority undrafted guy last season. And he's going to have to beat out Tyler Badegh, who he was benched for in that Buffalo game. Remember, Tyler Badee was hurt almost all of last year.

Starting point is 00:15:12 He got that scary injury in the New York Jets game. And then fortunately was able to come back late in the season. And the Bronco said, you know what, estimate, he's out for that Buffalo playoff game. And Bade, he's in. didn't really make much of a difference in that game, did it? But at the same time, you kind of do read into that a little bit. And it's hard not to at the same time, the team wants Audrick Estimate to have success. Sean Payton just said a couple of weeks ago that Estimate is one of those types of guys

Starting point is 00:15:42 that needs a larger amount of carries to really get going and to really be the best version of himself that he can be. And Sean said, we're going to give him those opportunities. What does that mean? maybe in the preseason, maybe in training camp. I don't know what the rotation has been like out at minicamp at the running back spot, but it does kind of seem like things are trending more towards R.J. Harvey and J. Lleel McLaughlin being the two guys that have been favored when Bo Nix is on the field,

Starting point is 00:16:10 not Audric Estimate. Now, we won't know until training camp and preseason and even after that what the Broncos plans are for Adric Estime. Will he make this team, though? I think that's a fair question at this point. Now that you've added Dobbins to the mix, because you're going to have Dobbins and you're going to have Harvey on the team, how many backs are you keeping? Does Michael Burton make the team as a fullback again? Or do you try to mess around with him on the practice squad?

Starting point is 00:16:37 There's so many other questions like the follow-up to this. But I do think that, you know, we need to acknowledge the fact that J.K. Dobbins coming in. This kind of completes the ultimate offseason for the Denver Broncos. it, right? I mean, they brought in Evan Ingram to fill the void at tight end. They brought in Talaoa, Hufanga, and Dre Greenlaw to fill those holes in the middle of the defense that kind of crippled the team late last season. You brought back some key guys like Jared Stidham, an underrated guy to bring back as your backup quarterback. Great for that room, great for Bo Nix to have him. And you bring back a lot of your coaching staff. You

Starting point is 00:17:16 retain 86% of your roster from last season, a roster that helped you, win 10 games and get back to the postseason. You've brought back a lot of guys. You brought in, I think, the right guys. Maybe the best that you could possibly bring in and free agency, especially at tight end and safety. I mean, right? The Broncos, they've gone out and they've been aggressive and they've taken some calculated

Starting point is 00:17:40 risks on certainly some injury prone guys in the past. But you bring those guys in, you can't help but think the training staff, they kept guys on the field at a better rate than any of the, other team over the last two years. They've been able to prevent or limit or at least kind of mitigate those short-term injuries, right? And sort of put the clamp on how long guys are out, how much time they're missing if they are to miss time at all.

Starting point is 00:18:08 The Broncos have done a really good job with that. And they've done a really good job in the pro scouting department. Look at last year's free agency class and just how measured they've been, they haven't been overaggressive, right? they've been kind of just the right amount. This is a move right here to bring in J.K. Dobbins. Now, after the draft, after you've seen these guys on the field a couple of times, it kind of completes that ultimate offseason.

Starting point is 00:18:31 Maybe there's another move or two to be made. We don't know. But if the Broncos didn't do anything else from this point on to the start of the regular season, you've got to think, man, they did a really good job of not only bringing guys back, but adding to this roster through free agency, through the draft. They've been aggressive. It's been exciting to see.

Starting point is 00:18:53 They've really upgraded areas of clear weakness from last year. So I'm excited about this move. I love the addition of R.J. Harvey and what he brings to the table. But I think when you talk about pass protection, you talk about playing on third down, you want somebody with a little bit of experience, right? And you didn't draft two running backs. So the veteran option was back on the table at that point.

Starting point is 00:19:18 J.K. Dobbins, he's kind of exactly what the Broncos need. Somebody who can break tackle, somebody who can grind out tough yards, somebody who hit pay dirt quite a few times last year and still had a number of explosive runs. He's not just out there plotting around and getting three yards to carry. He had a really good season in 2024. So can he build off of that? That's going to be exciting to find out how does the Broncos rotation at running back shake out? That's also going to be exciting to watch. You're going to have more. updates as Cody and I continue to break down minicamp for the Denver Broncos on this week's episodes of Lockdown Broncos.

Starting point is 00:19:56 What is Sean Payton thinking of the guys that he's seen out there? How are the young guys looking? It's going to be exciting, Broncos Country. And we appreciate you so much for tuning in today and every day. Again, if you're not already an everyday listener, we appreciate you taking a couple of seconds hitting subscribe because you know your boys, Cody and Sarah will have you covered every single day here, Lockdown Broncos. But Broncos Country, we'll catch you on the next.

Starting point is 00:20:18 one. Thanks for tuning in.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BREAKING: Denver Broncos Sign J.K. Dobbins, RB Competition Battle HEATS UP

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