Broncos hosting former Chargers RB J.K. Dobbins for visit, source confirms

Luca Evans and Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post on Jun 4, 2025

Published in Football

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DENVER — After holding off from casting any free-agent stones and turning to UCF’s RJ Harvey in April’s NFL draft, the Broncos’ backfield plans for 2025 seemed all but set.

Suddenly, a new name may be entering the fray.

Denver is hosting former Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins on a visit Wednesday night and Thursday, a source confirmed to The Denver Post. If eventually signed, the 5-foot-10, 215-pound Dobbins would instantly become a major piece of the Broncos’ backfield. He missed four games midseason with a knee sprain, but finished with 905 yards and nine touchdowns on 195 carries in 2024.

Dobbins got off to a roaring start last fall, rushing for 266 yards and two touchdowns over the Chargers’ first two games of the season. Then he slowed some, averaging 3.8 yards per carry but finding the end zone seven times over the rest of the season.

A second-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2020, Dobbins has an extensive injury history. He missed the entire 2021 season after a gruesome preseason knee injury similar to the one former Broncos running back Javonte Williams suffered. Dobbins was out more than a calendar year before returning early in the 2022 regular season, though he did another stretch on injured reserve later that season. Then Dobbins tore his Achilles in Week 1 of the 2023 season and missed the rest of that year.

All told, the 26-year-old missed 42 of 51 regular-season games from 2021-23, which made his return last season all the more impressive.

Dobbins has floated for months as the best option remaining on the free-agent running back market. In late March at owner’s meetings in Florida, after Denver went quiet on running backs in free agency despite a glaring need, Broncos head coach Sean Payton hinted that staff saw more appealing depth in this year’s draft class.

“I also think we felt like it was a pretty lean year in regards to free agency at that position, just relatively speaking,” Payton said then.

The Broncos have been publicly bullish on Harvey ever since they drafted him in the second round out of UCF, a relative public surprise compared to names the organization was linked to pre-draft. Payton said at May’s rookie minicamp that Harvey had “picked up very quickly on what we’re doing,” and asserted the 24-year-old would play on third down.

Harvey hasn’t officially signed his rookie deal yet with Denver. As of Wednesday, the Broncos have roughly $16 million in cap space for 2025, according to Over The Cap.

Dobbins’ addition would add more clutter to a backfield that’s already swarming with names. 2024 fifth-round pick Audric Estime has seemed poised for a Year 2 leap, and Jaleel McLaughlin returns after racking up 113 carries last year. Second-year backs Tyler Badie and Blake Watson will enter training camp vying for touches, too.