It wasn’t pretty, but the Denver Broncos pulled out their seventh straight win to improve to an NFL-best 8-2 on the season last Thursday against the Raiders. Maybe because it was before Sunday’s busy slate or the game was a bit of slog, but a significant fantasy injury from that contest is flying a little under the radar coming into week 11. J.K. Dobbins left the game with a foot injury and could miss significant time, leaving rookie RJ Harvey in a great spot to have a breakout over the next few weeks.
Let’s take a look at the latest info on Dobbins’ injury and what we can expect from a fantasy perspective from Denver’s running backs in the coming weeks.
J.K. Dobbins injury update
Dobbins sustained a foot injury in the third quarter against the Raiders on Thursday on an apparent but uncalled hip drop tackle. He missed three drives but came back and finished the game.
He has been diagnosed with a mid-foot sprain but was looking for a second opinion to determine the best course of treatment and the severity of the injury. Depending on how bad it is, he could miss several weeks and even be a candidate for IR.
The Broncos have one more game before their Week 12 bye week, though, which could complicate that decision slightly. Dobbins would have to miss four games if he goes on IR, meaning he would miss five weeks and return in Week 16. The Broncos haven’t made that move yet, which could indicate he will not need to miss that much time. For now, the team is still “considering” the move.
RJ Harvey fantasy football outlook
If Dobbins is out for multiple weeks or even just this week against the Chiefs, it would be a huge opportunity for Broncos’ rookie to step up. The situation mirrors, in many ways, what happened with TreVeyon Henderson for the Patriots when an injury to veteran Rhamondre Stevenson (toe) opened the door for his big breakthrough.
Harvey has already proven that he can find the end zone with five touchdowns in the last four weeks. He has scored all those points with a very limited workload, though, with four carries or fewer in five of his last six games. He has run for under 15 yards in five of those six games as well.
In his one recent game with more work, he had 14 carries for 58 yards against the Bengals, and he has proven he can be a big part of the passing game with 20 catches over his last seven games.
Since Dobbins has been getting a heavy workload with at least 14 carries in seven straight games, Harvey could be in for a huge usage spike for as long as Dobbins is out. In an effective offense, he’d be a very solid RB2 in an everydown role for Denver.
Tyler Badie fantasy football outlook
If Harvey isn’t ready for a full workload, the Broncos don’t have a lot of other options to supplement him with. Tyler Badie is the only other running back who is typically on the active game day roster with Jaleel McLaughlin, being a healthy scratch in nine of the team’s 10 games this year. Deuce Vaughn is also available on the team’s practice squad.
Badie would likely be the first option to get a shot at working with Harvey, although he only had two carries for nine yards this season. He has been more involved as a receiver catching 10 passes for 87 yards. He could fill in more on passing downs, although that has also been a strong point for Harvey.
If McLaughlin enters the mix, he could be more of an early-down option since he had 113 carries for 496 yards and a touchdown last year and 76 carries for 410 yards and a touchdown as a rookie in 2023. This year, though, he has only one carry and one target in his one game active.
The Bottom Line
Harvey has huge breakout potential if he gets every down work this week against the Chiefs. He is a great start in all standard-sized season-long formats with true RB1 upside if he realizes his full potential. The Broncos have just one game before their bye week, but then they have a couple of smash spots after the bye with a Week 13 matchup against the Commanders and a Week 14 rematch with the Raiders.
For one-week contests on DraftKings like the NFL $2.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st], Harvey is a strong value play at only $5,400, even though he’s in a tough matchup against the Chiefs. The matchup is enough to make him high-risk, but his ceiling is worth the risk if he’s getting all the work. Badie is also worth a look as a bargain flier at only $4,200, barely over the minimum salary for running backs. Stay tuned for Dobbins updates leading up to Sunday afternoon’s matchup, and if Dobbins is out as looks likely, both Harvey and Badie will have very high ceilings.
