Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag weekly during the season and periodically during the offseason. Click here to submit a question.
The Broncos haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher in the 2020s. Do you think that’ll change this year?
— Mike, Denver
Hey Mike, thanks for writing in and getting us going this week. Good question, and from this stage at the outset of training camp, it’s pretty difficult to guess.
While the Broncos do have a 1,000-yard rusher drought, there’s not a ton of difference between Phillip Lindsay’s 1,011 in 2019 and Melvin Gordon’s 986 in 2020.
Still, it’s a symbolic mark.
Push comes to shove, at the moment I’d say the streak does not end this fall. But for the first time in at least a couple of years, that won’t be because of a lack of punch at the position.
There just figures to be a pretty good split in workload between J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey, and at least three others — Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime and Tyler Badie — will be trying to carve out roles, too. Then you factor in Dobbins’ injury history and the consideration that even if he begins the season as the lead guy, he may or may not be by season’s end.
Here’s what I do think, though: Both Dobbins and Harvey have a chance to have really good seasons, particularly when you add up a combination of rushing yards and receiving yards.
If Harvey’s got 700 rushing yards but almost equal yards receiving on, let’s say, 60 catches, that’s a darn good rookie season. If Dobbins ends up with 850 and 600, that’s a really good year.
Interesting, Denver’s rushing production from running backs specifically has been remarkably consistent the two years so far under coach Sean Payton.
They combined for 1,422 yards on 346 carries in 2023 and 1,415 yards on 343 carries last fall, both of which work out to 4.1 yards per carry. The three previous seasons looked like this:
2022: 1,540 on 367 carries (4.2)
2021: 1,863 on 413 (4.5)
2020: 1,669 on 372 (4.5)
Regardless of the 1,000-yard rusher conversation, it’ll be a surprise if the Broncos aren’t closer to the 4.5 range than where they’ve been the past three years. They’ve got an overhauled running back room and an offensive line that ranked as the league’s best run-blocking unit by some metrics last year.
Parker, there is a lot of hype and expectation for the Broncos this preseason. However, it may very well be mostly in Denver, as many of the other experts may not be buying in. Many rate the Broncos behind the Chargers in their division and as a more likely candidate for possibly replacing Kansas City as the best in the AFC West. What are your thoughts?
— Jon, Edwards
Yeah, I don’t think it’s just in Denver, Jon. Many of the national types are pretty bullish on the Broncos, too. You see the team peppered all over lists of teams in contention, playoff projections, Super Bowl dark horses and all of that. ESPN just had Denver ranked as the No. 6 roster in football. Last summer, they had the Broncos ranked No. 31. That’s a massive year-over-year jump. That’s also not to pick on ESPN. Certain beat reporters, including the one looking back at me in the mirror, had Denver pegged for six wins last year. I said a year ago that the way I’d end up very wrong on that was if Bo Nix played well in his rookie year and that’s exactly what happened. But the Broncos also got terrific production up and down the roster, saw their first two free-agent classes under Payton pay off and benefited from development among many young players.
That sets the stage for high expectations this year. But you’re exactly right about the division. I’ve said this several times and believe it: The Broncos could be demonstrably better as a football team this year and end up 10-7 and finish third in the division. It’s a tough sled.
Not only is Kansas City the favorite until proven otherwise, but the Chargers should be really good. And Las Vegas will be picked to finish last nearly universally, but the Raiders had a nice offseason and nailed down some core competencies with the hire of Pete Carroll, the trade for Geno Smith and the completion of the Maxx Crosby extension. They won’t be a pushover, particularly with Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty as a couple of young offensive cornerstones to build upon.
Today, I’ll say the Chargers are the best bet to knock off Kansas City, but it’s essentially a coin flip with the Broncos. Tie goes to the team that swept the season series a year ago.
What have you observed about how travel affects the team? Sleeping, eating, changing routines — do the Broncos use a chartered plane? How about the equipment guys, video guys, cafeteria/food guys? How do they prepare and function when the Broncos play away from Denver?
— David Brown, Silverthorne
Hey David, great question. It’s always a little hard to tell week by week how travel impacts a team. When the Broncos got 70 hung on them in Miami in 2023, was that impacted at all by the fact that they were traveling all the way to South Florida? Or was it just a historically bad day at the office? And what of the fact that they spent extra time in Buffalo before a Monday Night game later that same season and won? Did the extended stay on Lake Erie help them? Was the preceding bye week more beneficial? Or do we remember it mostly because Wil Lutz got a do-over on the game-winning field goal and now know drama was brewing between the club and Russell Wilson?
What we do know is Payton likes traveling early when the team goes to the Eastern time zone. They’ll usually leave Friday evening rather than Saturday afternoon to get the extra adjustment time. Like all NFL teams, they do charter.
The Broncos take a lot of steps to make the road as much like home as possible. They bring their chef and some nutrition people along on every road trip and those folks typically work in conjunction with the hotel kitchen wherever the team is staying. When the Broncos went to West Virginia last year, they brought along a lot of their own food, from rice to sauces and spices to even their own honey.
That’s pretty much the approach in every facet. You want your players and coaches to be able to watch film like they’re at home, eat like they’re at home and do as much as similarly as possible.
What are the games you’re looking forward to covering most this year, Parker? I’m sure that London one has to be near the top of your list.
— Tom, Parker
Hey Tom, thanks for writing in. Yeah, the London trip is a circle-the-calendar event. Plus, even though the Broncos and Jets have played each of the past six seasons and eight of the past nine, this matchup has some good storylines. Primarily, of course, Darren Mougey leaving Denver to be New York’s general manager and the club hiring one of Payton’s former players and assistant coaches, Aaron Glenn, as head coach.
There are a bunch of other good ones: At Philadelphia the weekend before London, at Washington in late November, the Packers and Cowboys visiting Denver. Cincinnati at home, too, and those are all before the division matchups.
Night games are rougher on newspaper reporters from a deadline perspective, but it typically means you’re covering a big game — some Thursday night games notwithstanding.
Do you think we’ll ever see Von Miller return to the Broncos?
— Ryan, Aurora
Hey Ryan, hard to see how it happens at this point unless Miller’s available and Denver has a major change in their depth at outside linebacker.
Just a guess, but it wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see Miller do the one-day thing to retire as a Bronco someday. But he’s got a one-year deal with Washington as of last week and told us earlier this offseason that he wants to play as long as he feels like he can still make an impact.
Nik Bonitto was the breakout star of the defense last year, but Jonathon Cooper has steadily improved over the past two seasons. Do you think he can become a Pro Bowler this year?
— Marshall, Parker
Hey Marshall, there’s no doubt Cooper has been a key cog in what the Broncos do defensively. That’s why he got a four-year extension in the middle of last season that’s worth up to $60 million.
For better or worse, whether he makes a Pro Bowl probably depends on where his sack total ends up. If he’s in the 8-9 range again, probably not. If he has one of those years where he ends up with 12, then it’s definitely possible. That tends to be the nature of individual accolades like that, particularly for edge players and defensive linemen.
No matter where Cooper ends up, though, the 2021 seventh-round pick has turned himself into an indispensable part of the Broncos’ operation and he enters 2025 as a leader on one of the best units in football.
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