Broncos Rookie RB RJ Harvey Is Team's X-Factor Rest Of Season

The Denver Broncos are 10-2 and currently hold the second seed in the American Football Conference playoff picture through 13 weeks.

The Broncos are coming off a thrilling, but frustrating 27-26 overtime win over the Washington Commanders and have gone up two games in the AFC West division. It was frustrating because the Commanders are a three-win team and they were without star quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Backup Marcus Mariota was heavily involved as a passer and a rusher. Mariota completed 28 of 50 passes for 294 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while rushing for 55 yards on 10 carries.

Mariota was beating Denver’s pass rush by releasing the ball early enough, leading to only two sacks from the National Football League’s leaders in that department.

Though the defense struggled at times, even with the returns of star cornerback Pat Surtain II and star linebacker Alex Singleton, this unit is still arguably the strongest unit in the NFL and will continue to win games for the Broncos.

They’re covered on defense, but the offense is still inconsistent, especially on the ground without starting running back J.K. Dobbins. Dobbins was fifth in rushing yards before he went down, which are tough shoes to fill for rookie running back RJ Harvey.

Harvey has taken over as the RB1 since Week 10, and while he has only recorded 65 total yards on 24 carries, he scored two touchdowns against the Commanders including the game-winner in overtime (Washington missed their two-point conversion, effectively ending the game) and has eight total scores on the season.

ESPN’s Jeff Legwold believes Harvey is the team’s X-factor down the stretch.

“With J.K. Dobbins on injured reserve (foot), Harvey is clearly the team's RB1 and the only 'big' back on the roster at 205 pounds -- no other player at the position is over 200 pounds,” Legwold wrote Tuesday. “He has shown improvement in pass protection, so that should give him some additional third-down snaps in the weeks ahead. But the Broncos need him at his decisive best as a runner if their run game is going to be more than ornamental.”

Harvey has shown more success as a receiver than as a rusher in the backfield, which may be the reason his rushing numbers are a bit low, but with more time and reps, he should be able to be more efficient.

Denver travels to Las Vegas for a divisional matchup against the Raiders in Week 14.