Broncos Drew Interest In Running Back, Tight End At Deadline

The Denver Broncos had an intriguing trade week, as the failed trade for Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley wasn’t the only news. The Broncos also receivered interest on a couple of their players, according to a report from Sam Robinson of ProFootballRumors.com. 

Start with the running backs. The Broncos seemingly just promoted Jonah Coleman to be their lead back, and this happeened just months after Denver gave Dobbins a new deal. 

As a result, the Broncos received trade interest in Dobbins, per Robinson, although he didn’t name any specific teams. Dobbins is still in play as part of a running back tandem, though, and the reality is that Coleman’s yards per carry average isn’t blowing Dobbins numbers away by a significant margin. 

The Broncos main interest at running back seems to have been Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts, but they also received interest on tight end Evan Engram from the San Francisco 49ers. This would have been of interest to Denver given Engram’s disappointing numbers so far, but Engram is also the Broncos only option as a receiving tight end, so they decided to hold on to him. 

Robinson also provided an update on RJ Harvey, who is on IR due to an ankle injury. The second-year running back is expected to return on schedule, which would have him returning in Week 12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

In a separate report from Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post, coach Sean Payton isn’t happy at all about the way his running backs are being talked about. He wouldn’t answer any questions about running back depth this week, and Payton said he wouldn’t allow his running backs to “sit in front of a 15-minute interview about their playing time.”

The specific reference is likely about an interview with Dobbins two weeks ago in which the running back talked about his role and whether he was frustrated about not playing as much as he likely expected, per Gabriel. 

This is classic Payton trying to control the narrative, which is hard to do in this instance because the results on the field have been so erratic. Reporters and columnists praise running backs who are doing well and ask tough questions to the ones who aren’t, and that’s the job. 

Payton knows that, but that won’t stop him from doing his job, and controlling the narrative is part of it. Access is the only way he has to do that given some of the sketchy results to date.