Denver, CO
Sean Payton Sends Message to Broncos RB Stable After the RJ Harvey Pick
When an NFL team drafts a running back in the first or second round, it sends a message to its incumbent depth chart. The Denver Broncos selected UCF running back RJ Harvey at No. 60 overall, a player whom GM George Paton described as the scouting department’s “pet cat.”
Harvey is primed to lead a Broncos running back stable featuring 2024 fifth-rounder Audric Estime, Jaleel McLaughlin, Tyler Badie, and Blake Watson. With a new handpicked weapon to deploy in his offense, head coach Sean Payton dished on the implications of the Harvey selection on his incumbent running back room, a group sure to have received the team’s message, loud and clear.
“When we’re talking about some of our younger players, [during] Year 1, they get exposed to what we’re doing. We’ll see growth in Year 2,” Payton said after the draft. “We’re excited to see that with these guys, and that’s whether it’s Blake, Audric, Tyler Badie… we look forward to seeing their development…”
To compare the new iteration of the Broncos, Payton has assembled a facsimile of his vaunted New Orleans Saints offense, with Bo Nix as his Drew Brees. Payton’s Marques Colston is Courtland Sutton, while free-agent acquisition Evan Engram assuming the Jimmy Graham role.
At running back, Harvey steps into the Alvin Kamara or Darren Sproles role, but who is the power back Payton can slam between the tackles or in short-yardage situations, ala Mark Ingram II?
Only one current Broncos running back checks some of the Ingram boxes, and that’s Estime, so it seems that the initial one-two punch will include him alongside Harvey. But regardless of what role each running back assumes, the Broncos relish the spirit of competition that will be created this summer by Harvey’s arrival.
“This is one part of making your team better,” Payton said. “Then you create that high-level competition.”
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Harvey brings a premium draft pedigree to the table, but make no mistake; he’ll have to sing for his supper. Payton is about to make that crystal clear when the Broncos host rookie minicamp and begin holding full team meetings for the offseason training program shortly after.
“Ultimately—and these guys will hear this from me in two weeks in the team meeting, along with the rest of the rookie class—we’re going to go by what we see,” Payton said. “How you arrived here—this is a process.. Once they’re here, it’s up to them to earn their stripes.”
That invitation to earn a job and a role extends to young veteran running back Chris Evans, a former Cincinnati Bengals sixth-rounder whom the Broncos will host for a tryout during rookie minicamp. Evans has been in the league since 2021 and brings the experience of 34 career games, totaling 277 yards from scrimmage and three total touchdowns across 38 touches.
The Broncos have a vision for the players acquired this offseason via free agency and the NFL draft. Payton feels like this year’s draft haul, in particular, offered the Broncos more “freedom” to maneuver, thanks to back-to-back years of good drafting and pro personnel acquisitions within the scope of his regime.
“As we discussed this group of players, there’s a clear vision relative to what we think their strengths are and how they’ll compete in Year 1,” Payton said. “We’re further along than two years ago.”
On paper, it would seem that the Broncos’ running back depth chart will likely be topped by Harvey and Estime. But McLaughlin is loved and respected by Payton and his staff, which makes him a near-lock for the roster.
How Badie and Watson fit remains to be seen. But McLaughlin and Badie each have two years of Payton’s system under their belts. Watson has one.
Payton hopes to see a jump in a player’s production after at least one year in the system, so time will tell whether Estime, who was a rookie last year with Watson, McLaughlin, and Badie, can take some steps forward in the Broncos offense. And in the event that there’s a failure to launch, Harvey offers the Broncos a nice second-round fail-safe as the team’s projected starter.
Heavy emphasis on ‘projected.’ The rookie will have to earn it.
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Denver, CO
Keeler: Why did 2026 Broncos trade for Jaylen Waddle? Because they learned a lesson from 2025 Chiefs
Even Snakes roll snake eyes. As a Broncos quarterback, Jake Plummer went 3-3 in one-score games during the 2004 regular season. In 2005, Jake The Snake improved to 5-2 in those tilts. Plummer followed that up with a 3-5 record in one-score games during 2006.
Down. Up. Down. Close wins in the NFL, year-to-year, are about as consistently reliable as New Jersey Transit.
“You can’t coach clutch,” Plummer texted me Tuesday. “It’s either in your blood, or it isn’t.”
The Bo-lief is strong enough in Broncos Country right now to bench press a F-450 Super Duty. Bo Nix is 24-10 as a Broncos QB1 in regular-season tussles, 25-11 overall. He’s 13-8 in games decided by eight points or fewer as an NFL starter, and went 12-2 last fall.
The Broncos put up a mark of 11-2 in one-score games in 2025, tying an NFL record for one-score victories (11) in a season. Nix replaced Patrick Mahomes as the NFL’s Comeback King. Before the madness of Sean Payton’s fourth-down call in the AFC Championship, Denver had a method.
“The ones that have it, you can see it in their eyes,” Plummer continued. “It permeates the whole situation and something akin to faith!”
Faith is contagious.
Fortune is fickle.
Why did Denver trade for Jaylen Waddle?
Why are fans clamoring for another hammer at tailback to pair with J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey?
Why do they want more speed at inside linebacker, someone who can run with tight ends up the seam?
Because history doesn’t say 11 one-score victories is hard to repeat.
History says it’s nearly impossible.
Over the last five decades, only five NFL teams have won 10 or more one-score games in a season — the Broncos became the newest member of that club last December.
But get a load of how those other four teams fared the very next year:
• 2024 Chiefs: 11 one-score wins, 15 wins overall. The following fall? A record of 1-9 in one-score games, six wins overall.
• 2022 Vikings: 11 one-score wins, 13 wins overall. The following fall? A record of 6-8 in one-score games, seven wins overall.
• 2019 Seahawks: 10 one-score wins, 11 wins overall. The following fall? A record of 8-3 in one-score games, 12 wins overall.
• 1978 Oilers: 10 one-score wins, 10 wins overall. The following fall? A record of 6-3 in one-score games, 11-5 overall.
Summing up? Two of the four teams that’d racked up double-digit close wins regressed badly, while the other two improved slightly.
But none of them won more than eight games by eight points or less the following season.
In fact, their combined winning percentage in one-score games that next year was 45.6% (21-25). And the average relapse was a 3.25-win falloff compared to the prior season.
With a tougher schedule, a new offensive coordinator and the usual spate of wacky, unpredictable NFL gremlins lurking, would it shock you if the Broncos finished 11-6? Or 12-5? In this division, you’d take either one of those records in a so-called “regression” year. Take it and run with it.
The Broncos’ floor is as high as it’s been since Sheriff Manning hung up his spurs. The ceiling is fluid. You swap draft picks for a proven, win-now talent such as Waddle because the football gods are going to demand that you make your own luck from here on out.
“Each season is different,” Plummer said. “When there is unfettered belief in each other, it’s contagious and those wins can happen naturally. On the contrary, when there is unrealistic expectations from the outside, pressure to perform can impede the natural flow of what’s happening on the field. That’s why believing is paramount to achieving!”
While the Snake’s Dove Valley chapter was coming to a close, the New Orleans Saints won four games by eight points or less in 2006, en route to a 10-6 mark.
The Saints were 2-3 in those close contests the next season and slipped to 7-9 overall. The year after that? A 3-6 record in one-score games and an 8-8 mark overall. Payton knows. And if he doesn’t, he’s sure as heck about to find out.
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Two more days of record-breaking heat are forecast for northern Colorado this week, including in the Denver area, according to the National Weather Service.
Earlier forecasts from the weather service projected 90-degree temperatures in Denver on Wednesday, which would have marked the city’s first of the year and earliest on record. The expected temperature high has since dropped to 88 degrees, which would still break daily and monthly heat records, according to the weather service.
NWS Tuesday forecasts:
- 64 degrees in Dillion, breaking the 63-degree record for March 24.
- 75 degrees in Evergreen, breaking the 71-degree daily record.
- 81 degrees in Denver, breaking the 76-degree daily record.
- 83 degrees at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, breaking the 76-degree daily record.
- 83 degrees in Boulder, breaking the 76-degree daily record.
- 84 degrees at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, breaking the 80-degree daily record.
NWS Wednesday forecasts:
- 69 degrees in Dillion, breaking the 62-degree record for March 24.
- 80 degrees in Evergreen, breaking the 75-degree daily record.
- 88 degrees in Denver, breaking the 75-degree daily record and the 86-degree March heat record. Denver has broken or tied the March heat record three times so far this month, according to the weather service.
- 89 degrees at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, breaking the 76-degree daily record.
- 87 degrees in Boulder, breaking the 78-degree daily record.
- 89 degrees at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, breaking the 79-degree daily record.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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Denver, CO
Married couple stars on stage at Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ “Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors”
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is celebrating more than 100 performances of its hit comedy “Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors.” The show, which puts a funny twist on the classic tale of Dracula, is filled with comedy and romance, and that romance can be seen both onstage and off.
“It is a great date night. It is fast, it is fun,” said Marco Alberto Robinson, the actor who portrays Dracula on stage.
“People leave with a smile on their face, it is a good time,” said Adriane Leigh Robinson, an actress who plays multiple characters during the show.
The duo not only finds romance on stage in the production, but off stage, they are already in love.
“We are just best buddies,” Marco Robinson said.
“We are married,” Adriane Robinson said as she laughed.
The duo has lived in Denver for years and has enjoyed helping bring Dracula to life at the Garner Galleria.
“Dracula is a cult classic about a blood thirsty monster. But this is different, because he is not only blood thirsty, he is spicy,” Adriane Robinson said.
The other cast members of the production told CBS News Colorado they are confident both Robinsons are capable of starring on Broadway in New York. However, both said they have found a purpose and belonging in Denver and at the DCPA.
“We have found a super tight and loving community that we don’t ever want to leave,” Adriane Robinson said.
Both have been in many productions at the DCPA, but added Dracula has given them an opportunity to explore a side of their relationship that they’ve never had before.
“It’s the easiest (to be romantic interests on and off stage),” Adriane Robinson said.
“It is super easy. We can come up with something at home and bring it in. It is nice to not be passing ships,” Marco Robinson said.
Both said they have an appreciation for the surrounding arts community in Colorado, and have loved being on the same funny production in Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors.
“We are putting roots down here, and regional theatre is super important. And, the Denver Center is doing some of the best of it,” Marco Robinson said.
Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors, plays at the DCPA through May 10. For more information on tickets, visit their website.
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