Denver's backfield is a question the Broncos can't answer until later this week.
J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey are both injured, ESPN reported Monday, and there's no determination yet on which running back, if either, will be ready for Sunday night's game against the Los Angeles Rams. The team plans to evaluate both through the week before naming an answer.
The most encouraging signal came from Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan, which reported Dobbins is "good" after leaving the Broncos' game against the Jaguars. Good is not the same as available.
That distinction is the whole story in Denver. The Broncos opened the season with both backs in the plan, and now the offense's identity is in limbo, not just its depth chart. Sunday night against the Rams is a nationally televised test, and Denver will spend the week deciding whether it has one healthy back, two, or none.
For fantasy managers the conditional is blunt: if Harvey misses time and Dobbins can go, Dobbins gets the expanded role.
My read: Denver should name one lead back and ride him rather than splitting carries between two players at less than full strength. A committee built on injured legs is how a Sunday night game gets away from a team. If Dobbins is cleared, he's the one. If both backs sit, the Broncos are improvising in front of the country and the offense becomes one-dimensional by default. That's not a depth-chart problem. It's an identity problem, and Denver has until Sunday night to solve it.
