The No. 12 that flies on Broncos gamedays was stuck in the sand a few years back.
When RJ Harvey came to Florida speed trainer Dontarian Evans early in his career at UCF, he was “drifting,” as former Central Florida running backs coach Tim Harris Jr. remembered. He’d established himself as a threat in spring camp in 2021, only to tear his ACL. Through parts of three college seasons, he’d amassed a grand total of three carries for 3 yards. And when Evans first started working with Harvey, he saw a player who was strong, smart and had vision.
But he didn’t see confidence in Harvey’s left knee.
“We don’t have that breakaway speed, that elusiveness,” Evans recalled to The Denver Post in October. “So something has to change.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="“Broncos analysis: Zach Allen, Denver defensive front dominate Houston, help cover loss of star CB Pat Surtain II” — The Denver Post" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.denverpost.com/2025/11/02/broncos-texans-game-score-analysis-zach-allen-defense/embed/#?secret=oOCcMwjbBl" width="500" height="282" data-secret="oOCcMwjbBl" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script>/*! This file is auto-generated */!function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document);</script>
They ran their workouts on sand, where the grains underneath Harvey's feet slowed his cuts but sped them up on grass. Years later, that field-tilting burst is what enamored the Broncos' staff -- from head coach Sean Payton to general manager George Paton -- to Harvey in the second round of April's NFL draft. And now a rookie season that started as a slow burn has become a full-fledged bonfire, as Harvey is taking a weekly flamethrower to any linebackers assigned to cover him out of the backfield.
With a scuffling Broncos offense grinding their way into Houston territory early in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game at NRG Stadium, Harvey flared out of the backfield on a first down to meet Houston linebacker Henry To'oTo'o. This was no easy matchup. To'oTo'o entered Sunday having surrendered just nine catches on 17 targets for 70 yards in coverage, with no touchdowns. But he approached Harvey flat-footed, appearing to expect a cut inside or outside.
Instead, the rookie gave the linebacker a quick head-fake and turned on the jets, leaving To'oTo'o in the dust as quarterback Bo Nix found Harvey for a pivotal 27-yard score. It marked another banner day for Harvey as a pass-catching threat: Five catches for a team-leading 51 yards and a TD in an otherwise-ugly 18-15 win over Houston.
"We're just starting to see, right in front of our eyes -- a guy that we felt strongly about," Payton said Sunday. "He can go.
"And he and (J.K.) Dobbins, that one-two combination, it's nice to have as a coach."
Immediately after Harvey arrived in Denver this offseason, he began watching cut-ups of Darren Sproles, the scat-back receiving threat that Payton loved in New Orleans. In June, Payton joked that Harvey hadn't earned his "Joker wings" yet, referencing the Payton-coined moniker for a unique receiving-matchup threat.
The wings have sprouted, and the rookie's soaring. Harvey has three touchdown catches over his last three games, and five total scores in that timeframe. His four receiving TDs ranked second in the 2025 draft class as of Sunday afternoon. It also sets a rookie record for Broncos running backs. And they're coming by way of growing trust, as Payton noted Harvey's touchdown against the Texans came on a choice route -- the kind of high-IQ concept that Sproles and Alvin Kamara found stardom with for Payton in New Orleans.
Two years ago, with a much different roster, Payton sat after a 22-17 loss to the Texans -- in which quarterback Russell Wilson threw three picks — and ruminated. Houston ran heavy doses of quarters coverage under head coach DeMeco Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke, a scheme where two outside cornerbacks and two safeties all drop to cover individual quarters of the field.
"I thought, 'Man, we used to gut this coverage,'" Payton recalled thinking, then. "But you had to have the right people."
They had the right one Sunday. Payton anticipated that a top-ranked Houston defense would run heavy doses of quarters again, so he drew up a game plan in which he felt "RJ would have opportunities."
In film review Saturday night, the Broncos showed cut-ups of a handful of plays throughout the week that Payton thought were scoring opportunities. And in another Payton twist, staffers stitched video over each clip of each recipient's family members delivering a message: This is your play. Go make it.
Harvey made his.
RJ Harvey (12) of the Denver Broncos celebrates with Bo Nix (10) after the two connected for a passing touchdown during the fourth quarter of the Broncos’ 18-15 win over the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
"He gets the video award," Payton quipped of Harvey postgame.
The rookie's total snap count will still be curbed by the presence of Dobbins, who entered Sunday as the NFL's third-leading rusher and finished with 61 yards on 15 carries. But Payton is clearly more comfortable targeting Harvey as a focal point against the right coverages, and the Broncos appear to have finally weaponized their rookie's long-developed breakaway burst.
"It's fantastic," Payton said, "when you can have one of those interior players be really, really good in the passing game."
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.
The post Rookie RB RJ Harvey emerging as focal point of Broncos’ passing game: ‘He can go’ appeared first on Denver Post