Broncos learn that RJ Harvey can handle the heavy workload

LAS VEGAS — Broncos running back RJ Harvey had not had the chance to show that he could handle the same kind of burden that he handled during his college days at Central Florida — until Sunday in Las Vegas.

Twelve times in his final two seasons before turning pro, Harvey racked up at least 20 touches in a game. So, when he racked up 23 touches against the Raiders on Sunday, it wasn’t entirely new to him — although it represented a significant step forward from his previous work.

His career-high tally prior to Sunday was in Week 4 against Cincinnati, when he had 18 touches. And in the previous two games when he moved into the starting lineup in relief of J.K. Dobbins, he had 14 and 16 touches, resspectively.

“I had a pretty big workload in college, so, I’ve just gotta get back used to my body getting those kind of touches and I’ll be fine,” Harvey said.

“I felt good [Sunday].”

As was the case with the Broncos’ offense, Harvey was effective in a workmanlike way. His 4.4-yards-per-carry average was his highest in a single game since Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys; he didn’t break 3.0 yards per attempt in any of the Broncos’ November games.

Yardage after contact helped bolster that figure. Harvey’s average of 2.76 yards after contact per carry — according to Pro Football Focus data — was his best single-game figure since Week 5.

“It got to a point in the game [Sunday] that I thought he had about 600 yards. I didn’t realize he had about 100. It just felt so good,” defensive end John Franklin-Myers said.

“RJ does it all. He catches the ball, he runs, he blocks and I mean, shoot, that man was trying to block me in practice. Man, it’s a credit to the type of guy that we brought in, to be a rookie and to show that, it means the most to us.”

RJ Harvey had 100 yards from scrimmage on Sunday, but to some teammates, it felt like much more. "It got to a point in the game [Sunday] that I thought he had about 600 yards. I didn't realize he had about 100. It just felt so good," DE John Franklin-Myers said. pic.twitter.com/2X6Vf9EdjE

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) December 9, 2025

BRONCOS WERE AMPED WHEN HARVEY KEPT HIS CONTACT BALANCE ON THE GAME’S FOURTH PLAY

When Harvey bent but didn’t fall to the ground as Las Vegas’ Jamal Adams hit him on a third-and-2, he did more than just elicit gasps and awestruck reactions from the onlookers at Allegiant Stadium and the television audience watching from afar. He resuscitated the possession that ended up establishing the terms under which the Broncos played the entire game.

“RJ plays one way — he plays full speed,” Franklin-Myers said. “You’re not going to bring him down just by hitting him. You’ve gotta get people to the ball; you’ve gotta wrap up and hold on and hope that somebody comes and helps you.”

Had Harvey been tackled before recovering to gain three yards and move the chains, the Broncos would have almost certainly punted after four plays. Instead they marched 14 plays to a game-opening touchdown — one of three possessions that consumed at least eight minutes of clock time Sunday.

These were three of the four longest possessions — in time elapsed — in the Sean Payton era. Without Harvey breaking Adams’ grasp, the game might have flowed in a completely different manner.

“He’s short, right? But he’s rock-solid and that dude can run through a lot of tackles,” tight end Adam Trautman said.

But it’s more than just seeing Harvey break one tackle after another — seven in all over the course of a game. Per PFF tabulations, Harvey broke nine tackles in the Broncos’ first 12 games combined.

As Trautman noted, you can hear something different with Harvey, too.

“It’s different when you hear a collision with a running back, you heard it with J.K. [Dobbins] a lot, when he would collide with somebody, there was a certain sound do it, and RJ has a little bit of that when people collide with him,” Trautman said.

“And to see him run through those, it’s pretty impressive.”

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