Broncos LT Garett Bolles Offers Strong Take on Rookie RB RJ Harvey: ‘He’s a Dog’

The Denver Broncos may have brought veteran running back J.K. Dobbins in for a visit, but that doesn’t change how much the team will depend upon rookie second-rounder RJ Harvey. 

If Dobbins is ultimately able to turn his visit into a contract with the Broncos, it would suggest that the running-back-by-committee approach taken by head coach Sean Payton needs an addition. OTAs have given Harvey a golden opportunity to get deeper into his first professional playbook, and Broncos veteran left tackle Garett Bolles has been suitably impressed on a number of fronts. 

“Freaks of nature, and there’s a reason why we brought those guys in. You want to think he’s a rookie, but he’s a dog,” Bolles said of Harvey during his recent charity event, via The Denver Post‘s Luca Evans. “You see him in mini camp, excuse me, OTAs. What he’s done, he’s caught onto the playbook, and he has the speed that we need.” 

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Pure speed could hold the key to how much influence Harvey can have within the Payton offense. Even so, fully harnessing it will require the former UCF standout to master the finer points of the offense, and that’s never easy for any rookie coming into a league full of complexities. 

When you stop for a minute to register that providing quarterback Bo Nix a joker-type weapon out of the backfield has driven a great deal of Denver’s front office conversations this offseason, Harvey’s remit only gets more difficult. 

If the 24-year-old former high school quarterback turned running back can be depended upon to catch the ball and hold up in his blocking assignments, Harvey will get plenty of looks in 2025. It is possible that Dobbins’ visit was designed as a possible fail-safe for the coaching staff. Payton could also be trying to send a message and keep the running back room on its toes.

This is a situation where Bolles feels push will come to shove. The blindside blocker is convinced that the running game and Harvey will go as far as the group upfront can take them. 

“Our coach in the room leads those boys. I feel like it will come up to us five upfront,” Bolles said, via Evans. “Our demeanor, and the way that we run off the ball, the tenacity we have. The chemistry that we have to get the ball running, and we do that, and we are a dangerous team.”

For all the scheming and blending of fresh new talent into the Broncos’ lineup, Bolles is clearly determined that the starting five group he’s a part of can play bully boy football when they absolutely have to. 

While most folks will enter training camp focusing on the dynamic upside the Broncos’ rebuilt running back room might have with Harvey in the fold, hearing Bolles talk about the more old-fashioned elements of moving the pile with attitude is reassuring. 

Even so, Harvey will hopefully bring something to the Broncos’ running attack that’s been sorely missing in recent years. That 4.4-second speed figures to make the Broncos so much more dangerous, particularly vs. the more quality opponents on the 2025 schedule. 

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