Who Should I Start? J.K. Dobbins or Emari Demercado

Wednesday, April 8, 3:41 PM

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton said that re-signing running back J.K. Dobbins "was a priority ahead of all others," according to Zac Stevens of DNVR Sports. It was very intriguing to hear Payton go out of his way and identify Dobbins specifically. This could be a sign that he'll continue to have a large workload in 2026, even with RJ Harvey trending up ahead of his second season in the NFL. In his first season with Denver last year, Dobbins played in 10 games, tallying 772 rushing yards and four touchdowns. He ranked as the overall RB18 in half-PPR leagues before being shut down ahead of Week 11 due to a foot injury. The Broncos recently confirmed that Dobbins has fully recovered from the ailment and could have even played in the Super Bowl if Denver had qualified. Fantasy managers should prepare for the possibility of Dobbins and Harvey splitting touches next season. A shared backfield is never ideal for fantasy football, but we could still see both backs maintain fantasy relevance, given the productivity and anticipated success of Denver's offense.