Jeff LegwoldFeb 20, 2026, 10:00 PM

CloseJeff Legwold covers the Denver Broncos at ESPN. He has covered the Broncos for more than 20 years and also assists with NFL draft coverage, joining ESPN in 2013. He has been a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors since 1999, too. Jeff previously covered the Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills and Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans at previous stops prior to ESPN.

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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The disappointment of falling short of Super Bowl LX wasn’t 24 hours old when Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton walked down to the office of Zach Strief, the Broncos’ offensive line coach/run game coordinator, with questions.

Why couldn’t one of the best run-blocking teams in the NFL run the ball better? Especially when it needed to run it?

“That’ll be an important study, and with urgency,” Payton said in the days following the Broncos’ 10-7 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. Payton said he wanted to quickly start the conversation about that part of the Broncos’ offense, that “it’s one of the key things that we have to do this offseason.”

As the offseason blitz kicks off for the Broncos, starting with the combine next week and free agency shortly after, they are faced with a run game riddle. For the second consecutive season, they were one of the league’s best at run blocking but in the middle of the pack when it came to what they did with that running room.

Playcalling, personnel, technique — all solutions are on the table. The Broncos were third in the NFL in run block win rate (73.9%), yet that blocking rarely turned into top-level impact. Denver was 15th in plays of 20 yards or more (run and pass combined), 15th in runs of 10 yards or more and 11th in runs of 20 yards or more. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Broncos were 21st in the league in rushing yards over expected — essentially yards gained compared to how much yardage run plays should yield based on the blocking.

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“We need to execute better,” said Broncos running back RJ Harvey, who rushed for 540 yards and averaged 3.7 yards per carry as a rookie. “… I need to execute better … have better vision, do things better.”

It had a rinse-and-repeat feel, as the Broncos faced a similar disconnect in 2024. They were No. 1 in run block win rate (74.9%), 15th in plays of 20 yards or more (run and pass combined), 14th in runs of 10 yards or more and 17th in runs of 20 yards or more.

“I feel like we’re far enough along with [run-pass options with quarterback Bo Nix] and some of that. But when we want to run it under center and control a game, we’ve been able to do it a few times, but not as much as I’d like,” Payton said. “… That’ll be one of the points of emphasis that I think that we research and look into heavily.”

Will that involve fewer plays in Payton’s preferred three-wideout formations? Including penalty snaps, the Broncos ran three-wide personnel on 63.4% of their snaps in 2025. That led to fewer plays with advantageous blocking situations for their offensive line.

The Broncos were 10th in the league in percentage of run plays with their quarterback under center (64.9%), well behind the league-leading Los Angeles Rams (87.3%) and the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks (fourth, 75.1%). The Rams led the league in scoring, while Seattle was third (Denver finished 14th). The Broncos were also 17th in the league in percentage of run plays when they had as many or more blockers than opposing defenders in the box (66.9%). The Rams and Seahawks were again No. 1 (86.9%) and No. 4 (73%).

Payton and new offensive coordinator Davis Webb have two major items to wrestle when dissecting the above numbers. One is to decide how much of the Broncos’ struggles were because of the Broncos’ backs trying to fill a gap left after J.K. Dobbins suffered a foot injury on Nov. 6. The other is how much Nix should be involved in the run game going forward.

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Let’s start with Dobbins, who finished as the Broncos’ leading rusher (772 yards) and their leader in explosive runs (21, seven more than second-place Harvey). The Broncos were a yard better per carry when Dobbins was on the field — 4.9 compared to 3.9 when he wasn’t — and had fewer run plays that ended in run-stuff wins for opposing defenses (16.5% with Dobbins on field, 19.1% when he wasn’t).

“Obviously that was a tough loss,” Payton said of losing Dobbins. “… I want to play from the gun, but I also will always want to play with a two-back or multiple-tight end mindset, have that flexibility.”

Dobbins is slated to be an unrestricted free agent. He has said he wants to remain in Denver and bristles at discussions of his injury history, but he has played more than 10 games in only two of his six NFL seasons. His career-best in games played (15) came when he was a rookie with the Ravens in 2020.

“I wasn’t drafted here, but firmly believe I’m a Bronco,” Dobbins said when asked about a potential return. “… I think I will be here, hopefully I will. I think I’m a Bronco for life.”

Nix, who is recovering from surgery to repair a fractured right ankle he suffered in the closing minutes of the divisional round playoff win over the Buffalo Bills, said he will be ready to participate during the Broncos’ offseason program.

And when asked if the second surgery in as many NFL offseasons — he also repaired multiple transverse process fractures in his back last year — would influence his willingness to scramble or be a part of the run game in the future, Nix immediately said “absolutely not.”

“It’ll be absolutely no issue this offseason,” he added. “I’ll be able to actually start training back when I was going to start training, so [I won’t] miss any time there.”

Along with Dobbins, some running backs who will be available when the free agent negotiation window starts on March 9 include Breece Hall (1,065 yards in 2025), Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker III (1,027), Travis Etienne Jr. (1,107) and Najee Harris (four consecutive 1,000-plus-yard seasons from 2021-24). The draft won’t be as deep as the year before, as Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame) is considered the only first-round back by many evaluators. Jadarian Price (Notre Dame) and Emmett Johnson (Nebraska) lead the Day 2 running back prospects.