Team news: Denver Broncos

Broncos I'm told are considering what to do with running back J.K. Dobbins and his foot injury. I was told placing him on injured reserve is being considered.

Related players: RJ Harvey, Tyler Badie, Jaleel McLaughlin

It would be a big loss for Broncos as Dobbins is the primary ball carrier with Harvey doing most of his damage in the passing game. Harvey has had seven games this season averaging 3.0 yards or less per carry. In those same games, he's had five carries or less. However, Harvey would likely be in line to see an increased workload. The good news is he's had three games averaging over 4.0 yards per carry. Badie would be next up, and would be worth a pickup in just about any fantasy format.

Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins suffered a foot injury on what appeared to be a hip-drop tackle Thursday night against the Raiders and is awaiting a second opinion, per source.

Dobbins still finished the game with two carries on the final drive to close out the win.

Related Players: RJ Harvey, Tyler Badie

Dobbins *far* out-touched Harvey in Week 10, even with the rookie's increase in snaps as of late. Harvey would be an obvious beneficiary if the vet misses any time, but we've still got another week to sort out that probability.

Broncos ruled out TE Evan Engram and LB Dre Greenlaw for Sunday’s game at the Chargers.

Related Players: Adam Trautman, Lucas Krull

Engram has accounted for 33 yards through two weeks, so it's hard to say his absence is going to impact the offensive gameplan too much. Trautman can remain on waiver wires.

Evan Engram: The signs were there when Engram played just one snap on the first drive of Denver’s season in Week 1, but the free-agent tight end was even less involved against the Colts than the Titans last week.

Nix emphasized Engram’s the Broncos’ No. 1 option on a variety of plays, but the tight end just doesn’t have the snap count at the moment to make a massive impact when defenses are taking him away.

It's been a frustrating start to the fantasy season for those who waited on the TE position and thought they got a steal in Engram in the later rounds. Engram was thought to be a perfect fit in the Broncos offense, which seemed to lack a lot of big-name targets. The story said Engram did have one chain-moving catch in the second half, but was a ghost before the break. Through two games now, Engram has just four catches, the story pointed out. Engram will be tough to trust until we start to see more fantasy production, so owners may want to look for another option.

The Broncos ruled out LB Dre Greenlaw (quad) for Sunday's opener vs. Tennessee.

WR Marvin Mims Jr. (thigh) and OLB Nik Bonitto (foot) are off the injury report and good to go.

Related Players: Courtland Sutton, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant

Good news for Mims, who is one of the more intriguing WR4/5 types in the league this year; he could either put up barely-relevant fantasy numbers, or build on what was a promising back-half of 2024. He can be left on benches in Week 1, but keep him on rosters where you can, as this sets up for a possible breakout season.

Broncos unofficial depth chart for Week 1 has J.K. Dobbins as the starting running back and RJ Harvey as RB2.

Tyler Badie is No. 3 and Jaleel McLaughlin No. 4.

We've seen some depth charts all over the place today as teams have begun to post them. While you can't always trust them exactly, there could be some stock in this one as we've heard Dobbins and Harvey were battling it out for the top spot. Harvey should get his share of work as well, but owners maybe have to think twice about starting him Week 1 until we see how the workload is split up. It's a good sign for Dobbins he's made an impact through camp and the preseason.

Cowboys RB Deuce Vaughn is getting waived.

Related players: Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders, Jaydon Blue, Phil Mafah

Watkins went on to post the Cowboys had Vaughn on practice squad last year for a bit. Might return to that in 2025. RB room was top heavy with vets this year and the emergence of rookie Blue. This likely also means the team is keeping Sanders. Even with Mafah on the IR, as reported yesterday, Vaughn wasn't able to crack the top-three.

Broncos have waived RB Audric Estime per source.

Related players: RJ Harvey, J.K. Dobbins, Jaleel McLaughlin

This probably doesn't come as much of a surprise given Estime doesn't offer much in the pass-catching game. The Broncos are fresh off drafting Harvey and signing Dobbins. Estime was drafted just last year in the fifth round by the Broncos.

And another trade! The Denver Broncos are sending WR Devaughn Vele to the New Orleans Saints for a 2026 4th-round pick and a 2027 7th-round pick, per sources.

Related Players: Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Mason Tipton, Brandin Cooks, Cedrick Wilson

That's a lot of related players, but the biggest impact is probably on rookie Pat Bryant, who has played well enough to make Vele expendable in Denver.

The Saints will presumably employ the 6'4" Vele as a rotational threat, which makes him a little more interesting in super deep leagues for a team that is projected to be playing from behind a ton.

I just got back from Broncos practice. There’s buzz around several players, but one name I haven’t seen mentioned enough is second-year WR Troy Franklin. The staff loves what they’ve seen, and he looks poised for a bigger role.

Related players: Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Devaughn Vele, Pat Bryant, Troy Franklin

The post went on to say Franklin's understanding of the position, overall toughness and strong hands should help make him a key target for QB Bo Nix. Schultz went on to say Denver believes it has multiple WRs ready - including Mims Jr. - to step up alongside Sutton. For what it's worth, we have Franklin a bit buried down the WR depth chart in Denver. Behind Sutton we have Mims, Vele and the rookie Bryant ahead of Franklin. But with really no clear-cut WR2 in that group, it really could be anyone's job and would certainly have some fantasy value.