Jaleel

McLaughlin

Weeks after opting not to tender an offer to McLaughlin, the 25-year-old back will return to the Broncos on a one-year deal with a chance to battle for a roster spot. McLaughlin will enter camp as the RB3 behind J.K. Dobbins and R.J. Harvey, but his familiarity with Sean Payton’s offense should give him the inside edge on winning a camp battle. McLaughlin made the Broncos as a rookie UDFA in 2023 and has totaled 226-1,093-3 on the ground while adding another 59-263-4 through the air. He’s a solid depth piece but is unlikely to carry any immediate fantasy value in 2026.

It’ll make him a free agent. Entering his age-26 season, McLaughlin has averaged 4.8 yards per rush and caught 59-of-69 targets for 263 yards over three years in the league. McLaughlin is built like a third-down back and will likely resurface elsewhere to attempt to snag that role for a new team.

Dobbins is not yet ready to resume playing. He remained limited throughout all three practices this week after the Broncos opened his 21-day practice window on Monday. With Dobbins out, rookie RB RJ Harvey will again lead the backfield. He totaled 11 touches last week. Broncos RB Jaleel McLaughlin handled four and RB Tyler Badie had one.

McLaughlin appeared to be the choice to attack the Bills’ weakness on the outside of their run defense. He gained over five yards per carry, but Sean Payton went away from him almost entirely in the second half. It remains to be seen how Payton will split the carries between McLaughlin and RJ Harvey next week, but McLaughlin appeared to be the more dynamic runner tonight.

McLaughlin also chipped in a 17-yard reception by forcing a missed tackle after securing a checkdown pass from QB Bo Nix before scampering down the right sideline. The rotational back ran very efficiently and even brought the ball into scoring position on the opening drive with a 10-yard gain from the Chargers’ 16-yard line. Fellow Broncos RB Tyler Badie rushed twice for minus-two yards and caught 2-of-2 targets for 28 yards.

McLaughlin was the only Denver running back besides RJ Harvey (seven rushes, 50 yards) to see a carry in a massively pass-heavy script for the Broncos. With 17 rushes over his past four games, McLaughlin is clearly the team’s RB2 and would likely function as Denver’s lead back if Harvey were to get dinged up.

RJ Harvey is dealing with a rib injury but practiced in full on Wednesday and should still be locked into the lead back role in Denver. This is something that Payton says a lot after games — this idea that he needs to get backup backs or wideouts (like Marvin Mims) more involved. We wouldn’t necessarily read into it so far as to say that Harvey is going to split carries or anything, but it is at least possible that McLaughlin is more involved than the seven touches he’s seen over the past two games.

He added that he was impressed with McLaughlin’s work against the Chiefs in Week 11, when he rushed for 6/19/1. RJ Harvey-reliant managers won’t want to hear this, but it’s possible that he peaks at 65-75 percent of the usage in Week 13’s game against the Commanders. McLaughlin seems destined to be a thorn in his side while not collecting enough usage on his own to be more than a desperation FLEX play.

He “added” a minus-5 yard catch on his only target. McLaughlin and Tyler Badie split 16 snaps evenly as foils to RJ Harvey, and McLaughlin lived up to the idea by stealing two red zone touches from Harvey and the game’s only touchdown. McLaughlin isn’t a must-hold through Denver’s Week 12 bye, but he’s certainly got a fantasy pulse again following JK Dobbins’ injury.

Rapoport ambiguously states that Dobbins “is believed to be out for the foreseeable future” as he works through his options regarding his injured foot. Dobbins was injured while being hip-drop tackled by a Raiders defender in Week 10. Broncos rookie RB RJ Harvey steps into lead back duties with Dobbins sidelined, while receiving specialist RB Tyler Badie chips in behind him. Fellow backup RB Jaleel McLaughlin will likely be active on game day.