Broncos’ Dobbins ready for something audacious, but he remains down-to-earth

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins doesn’t lack for confidence — or optimism.

Indefatigable in the face of landing on injured reserve in each of the five seasons, his “pinky promise” of July 31 to play in all 17 regular-season games this season still resonates.

So, it should come as no surprise that he feels as though he could handle an unfathomable workload.

“I’m ready for a hundred,” Dobbins said.

Pressed to specify WHAT he wanted to hit triple digits …

“Carries!”

The NFL single-game record, by the way, is less than half of that total — 45, set by Washington’s Jamie Morris in 1988.

“OK, but I’m ready for anything,” Dobbins said. “Whatever coach wants, whatever it takes to win the game, that’s how many carries I want.”

Of course, the truth is that such a tally might be somewhere in the 10-to-15-range. If Dobbins averaged 13 attempts per game and achieved his goal of playing all 17 games, that would leave him with 221 on the season. If he were to match his 2025 average of 5.0 yards per carry, that would leave him with 1,105 yards for the season. And that, by any reasonable standard, would be a success — and the best campaign of his career.

That would certainly justify the contract the Broncos gave him in March — and then some.

The team has already worked into the mode of conserving the use of the seven-year veteran. For starters, he didn’t take a preseason snap. And that was fine by him.

“Do you know what happened to me my second year?” Dobbins said. “So, very last preseason game, blew my whole entire knee out. So, I haven’t really been a big fan of preseason games because that injury was a nightmare.

“… We practice hard every single day, though. I go against the best defense. So, I think I get enough work that can prepare me for the game, and I’m on Year Seven now. So, I think I’ll be all right.”

But what the Broncos want out of him goes deeper than his carries.

WHY THE BRONCOS SEE HIM AS A “FORCE MULTIPLIER”

It’s not simply about his work on the field, although that matters, because a consistently productive Broncos rushing attack can bolster the work of Bo Nix and Broncos pass-catching targets in the aerial game.

No, a significant part of Dobbins’ value is in his locker-room presence — bursting with a mix of youthful optimism and wisened experience. He often counsels the younger running backs, and just as he took RJ Harvey under his wing last year, he’s done the same for rookie Jonah Coleman this season.

It’s part of the job, but it comes naturally to him.

“I don’t try to be that,” he said. “I’m just me, right? And me being me, I guess that’s what comes with it. And yeah, I love it.

“They trust me. They trust me to lead the way for the younger guys and whoever needs help and bring the team along wherever we need to go. So, yeah, I appreciate that from them, but that’s why I’m here, and that’s why I always say that I was born to be a Bronco, because everything that this organization stands for is what I stand for, so, it’s a great combination.”

For more, watch the embedded video.

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