Jaleel McLaughlin

McLaughlin operated as the Browns’ lead back with Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson both sidelined. The 26-year-old back saw six of his carries go for four or more yards, and he was the only Browns running back to see a target. If either Judkins or Sampson are able to return in Week 7 against the Titans, McLaughlin will likely return to his role as a lightly used backup. If Judkins were to miss another game, McLaughlin could be in line for double digit touches, but he would be a risky bet as far as fantasy is concerned.

He gets the elevation after the Browns place Dylan Sampson on injured reserve. McLaughlin and Raheim Sanders will be behind Quinshon Judkins in Week 2. McLaughlin’s career shows him as a more reliable pure runner than Sanders, but we’re unsure of how the split behind Judkins will go from here.

Outside of Quinshon Judkins, Dylan Sampson and Raheim Sanders are also in front of McLaughlin. The 25-year-old back has landed in a nice enough spot though considering none of these backs outside of Judkins has proved all that much yet. Also joining the Browns practice squad are: CB Myles Bryant. DE Logan Fano. T KT Leveston. P Wes Pahl. CB D’Angelo Ross. DT Tyreak Sapp. DE Khordae Sydnor. S Zion Washington. LB Nathaniel Watson and WR Kole Wilson.

McLaughlin could return to the Broncos as a practice squad player. The Broncos also waived DT Israel Antwine, CB Brent Austin, wide receiver Michael Bandy, LS Luke Basso, CB Sean Fresch, DB Ricardo Hallman, OT Reid Holskey, TE Justin Joly, WR Kolbe Katsis, WR Dane Key, WR Joseph Manjack, OLB Dasan McCullough, DT Jordan Miller, OT Tyler Miller, LB Red Murdock, OL Gavin Ortega, S Parker Robertson, WR Cameron Ross, WR Kyrese Rowan, RB Cody Schrader, S Miles Scott, OLB Ron Stone Jr., CB Reese Taylor, OLB Johnny Walker Jr., DT Kristian Williams and LB Taurean York. The Broncos waived LB Drew Sanders with an injury designation. The Broncos released LS Mitchell Fraboni, TE Lucas Krull, FB Adam Prentice, OT Foster Sarell, C Lecitus Smith and OG Calvin Throckmorton. The Broncos placed DT Frank Crum and TE Caleb Lohner on injured reserve with a designation to return, and OG Nick Gargiulo on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. Those three players must miss at least four games.

Weeks after opting not to tender an offer to McLaughlin, the 25-year-old back will return to the Broncos on a one-year deal with a chance to battle for a roster spot. McLaughlin will enter camp as the RB3 behind J.K. Dobbins and R.J. Harvey, but his familiarity with Sean Payton’s offense should give him the inside edge on winning a camp battle. McLaughlin made the Broncos as a rookie UDFA in 2023 and has totaled 226-1,093-3 on the ground while adding another 59-263-4 through the air. He’s a solid depth piece but is unlikely to carry any immediate fantasy value in 2026.

It’ll make him a free agent. Entering his age-26 season, McLaughlin has averaged 4.8 yards per rush and caught 59-of-69 targets for 263 yards over three years in the league. McLaughlin is built like a third-down back and will likely resurface elsewhere to attempt to snag that role for a new team.

McLaughlin appeared to be the choice to attack the Bills’ weakness on the outside of their run defense. He gained over five yards per carry, but Sean Payton went away from him almost entirely in the second half. It remains to be seen how Payton will split the carries between McLaughlin and RJ Harvey next week, but McLaughlin appeared to be the more dynamic runner tonight.

McLaughlin also chipped in a 17-yard reception by forcing a missed tackle after securing a checkdown pass from QB Bo Nix before scampering down the right sideline. The rotational back ran very efficiently and even brought the ball into scoring position on the opening drive with a 10-yard gain from the Chargers’ 16-yard line. Fellow Broncos RB Tyler Badie rushed twice for minus-two yards and caught 2-of-2 targets for 28 yards.

McLaughlin was the only Denver running back besides RJ Harvey (seven rushes, 50 yards) to see a carry in a massively pass-heavy script for the Broncos. With 17 rushes over his past four games, McLaughlin is clearly the team’s RB2 and would likely function as Denver’s lead back if Harvey were to get dinged up.

RJ Harvey is dealing with a rib injury but practiced in full on Wednesday and should still be locked into the lead back role in Denver. This is something that Payton says a lot after games — this idea that he needs to get backup backs or wideouts (like Marvin Mims) more involved. We wouldn’t necessarily read into it so far as to say that Harvey is going to split carries or anything, but it is at least possible that McLaughlin is more involved than the seven touches he’s seen over the past two games.

He added that he was impressed with McLaughlin’s work against the Chiefs in Week 11, when he rushed for 6/19/1. RJ Harvey-reliant managers won’t want to hear this, but it’s possible that he peaks at 65-75 percent of the usage in Week 13’s game against the Commanders. McLaughlin seems destined to be a thorn in his side while not collecting enough usage on his own to be more than a desperation FLEX play.

He “added” a minus-5 yard catch on his only target. McLaughlin and Tyler Badie split 16 snaps evenly as foils to RJ Harvey, and McLaughlin lived up to the idea by stealing two red zone touches from Harvey and the game’s only touchdown. McLaughlin isn’t a must-hold through Denver’s Week 12 bye, but he’s certainly got a fantasy pulse again following JK Dobbins’ injury.

All healthy scratches here. Tyler Badie has control of the Annoying Fantasy Thorn role as the third back in Sean Payton’s offense.

It’s a quiet list for a Broncos team that escaped the season’s first month as one of the league’s healthier teams. Although he’s still only 25, it bodes poorly for McLaughlin’s NFL future that he has been passed by Tyler Badie on the Broncos’ depth chart.

McLaughlin has been a healthy scratch throughout the season while Krull continues to deal with a toe injury sustained in preseason. The Broncos are looking to bounce back from consecutive close losses after dropping Week 2 by a point to the Colts and Week 3 by three points to the Chargers.

McLaughlin has lost his spot on the game day roster to passing game specialist RB Tyler Badie. Broncos head coach Sean Payton and OC Joe Lombardi sang Badie’s praises this week, highlighting his ability to keep Bo Nix upright in pass protection. Badie also earned five targets against the Titans in Week 1. His usage reduces fantasy-scoring projections for Nos. 1 and 2 RBs, J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey. The Broncos also declared LB Dre Greenlaw (quad), DL Sai’vion Jones, OLB Que Robinson, TE Nate Adkins, OT Frank Crum and QB Sam Ehlinger inactive for Week 2 against the Colts.

It’s the first time McLaughlin has been a healthy scratch in his three-year Broncos career. It will be RJ Harvey and JK Dobbins functioning as the main backs in the Denver backfield in Week 1, and likely going forward. Look for Dobbins to lead the team in carries while Harvey is deployed in a pass-catching role. Both Denver backs could be solid fantasy options against what should be a bad Titans defense.

Javonte Williams is now with the Cowboys, and the duo of Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime won’t intimidate many defenses. Paton pointed out the strength of this year’s incoming running backs class when speaking with the media at the NFL owner’s meetings and seems more than ready to find a difference-making back to help Sean Payton’s offense this upcoming season. The Broncos hold the No. 20 pick in the draft and could take a shot on a back in that spot, but with several talented backs expected to be available on Day 2, they’ll have plenty of other options available to them if they prefer to spend their top draft capital elsewhere.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton has long deployed running backs as a key part of his passing offense. That didn’t change in 2024, with a quarter of early-down pass attempts going to Denver backs. That Jaleel McLaughlin and Javonte Williams proved to be among the least efficient pass-catching backs in the NFL last season has left the Broncos with a need to fill this offseason. They parted with Williams, who signed with Dallas. Payton seemed not to trust McLaughlin with the pass-catching role in 2024, and for good reason: McLaughlin ranked 54th out of 57 qualifying running backs in yards per route run. “It all creates major questions about how the Broncos will address a critical part of their offense,” Kosmider said. "[The Broncos] have closely evaluated what experts call one of the deeper running back classes in recent memory. They allotted many of their allowed meetings with prospects at the combine to the position and will continue to monitor the group at pro days around the country this month. They’ll meet with more running backs at their facility during top-30 visits.” Denver holds the 20th pick in the first round of the 2025 draft.

“McLaughlin, Estimé and Badie all led Denver in rushing during various games last season and could have a role in the 2025 backfield, but Denver needs a player capable of carrying a heavier workload,” Kosmider continues. Kosmider links Omarion Hampton to the Broncos at No. 20 overall, noting that he doesn’t believe Ashton Jeanty will fall that many picks. On this, National Beat Writer Reassessment Of Roster After Wave One Of Free Agency Day, the Broncos join many other clubs in looking strongly at what is expected to be a good running back depth class.