Can J.K. Dobbins stay healthy and deliver for fantasy?
Yahoo Fantasy's Josh Norris and Hayden Winks explore Dobbins' fantasy outlook with the Denver Broncos in 2026. Check out the full conversation on "Yahoo Fantasy Football with Josh and Hayden" - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen .
Video Transcript
Big question, Hayden.
What if this is the year that J.K. Dobbins stays healthy?
What if?
W- what if?
In Sean Payton's entire time as head coach, this is one of my favorite stats ever, with the Saints, with the Broncos, no single running back has ever hit 250 carries.
And we're talking about- Wow big ones, right?
Anywhere from Mark Ingram to Reggie Bush to Alvin Kamara to whoever he's had, Javonte Williams at the Denver Broncos too.
No running back has ever individually hit 250, 50 carries.
But guess what?
Of course, J.K. Dobbins was on pace for that last year.
Now, you can say J.K. Dobbins is on pace for a lot of things during his career, a career year every single year, and it just doesn't happen because the dude can't stay on the field.
I mean, he's missed 54 games in five seasons.
He's missed at least four games in every single season that he's played.
But man, when he touched grass last year, he was averaging the seventh-best yards per carry.
He was fifth in explosive run rate.
He was 16th in yards after contact, and was quite good at avoiding negative runs.
In the first stanza of the season, 15 carries per game.
Look, I get it.
Again, he's not gonna stay healthy.
He's not gonna be out there.
But where he is going right now, running back 35 on Yahoo.
Hayden, we talk about strategy all the time, how we like to open with two straight running backs.
But let's say you go with Brock Bowers, and then somehow A.J.
Brown falls to you in round three, and you're finding yourself in kind of no man's land with your roster at running back.
I think in terms of a zero or hero running back strategy- Mm-hmm J.K. Dobbins, where he's going on all these platforms at this moment, is one of your best bets for at least the first half of the season.
Yeah.
On pace for 1,312 rushing yards by himself last year.
And that was through 10 weeks.
Like that wasn't like a small sample.
10 weeks is a pretty good sample.
The offensive line is all back.
They had some backups that played last year on the interior.
Those guys are back in the mix.
There's a better depth there.
I think the Broncos are gonna put up a shit ton of points.
Like you add Jalen Waddell to this, this offense has already been pretty functional with a very young, or not, I shouldn't say young, NFL inexperienced quarterback in, in Bo Nix there.
J.K. Dobbins, if he stays healthy, will finish as an RB2 this year
