With seven minutes left in the fourth quarter of the Denver Broncos’ routing of the Cincinnati Bengals Monday night, J.K. Dobbins did something that hadn’t been done since January of 2023.

Coach Sean Payton had never had a 100-yard rusher during his tenure with the Broncos, but a 16-yard run by Dobbins finally ended that drought. The Broncos won Monday night’s game, 28-3, for many reasons. Quarterback Bo Nix played an almost mistake-free game. The Denver pass rush was all over Bengals backup Jake Browning, and the Cincinnati offense simply had zero life. The driving force of the Broncos’ domination was the rushing attack, specifically Dobbins.

Going into this season, I was curious how much the overhaul in the running back room would affect the Broncos. Javonte Williams left for the Dallas Cowboys, and RJ Harvey joined the team via the second round of the NFL draft.

That, alone, felt like it was the right decision, at least in the long run. Then Denver brought in Dobbins. The former Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers back was coming off a massive comeback season, but struggled to find a team in the offseason.

When he joined Denver, questions were raised. How much better would he be compared to Williams behind an offensive line that couldn’t seem to pave holes for Williams? Will Harvey get the touches fans want to see him get as a rookie? Would Dobbins clog the room and slow Harvey’s development? All were fair questions, but none of them matter now.

Through the first four games of the season, Dobbins is on pace for the best season of his professional career. He has 57 carries for 323 yards and three touchdowns. Instead of clogging the running back room, Dobbins has been the star of the backfield, so much so that he’s the player fans want to see more involved. He’s averaging 5.7 yards per carry and is on pace for a career-high 242 carries. The best part about the transformed rushing attack this season is how Dobbins is being used.

Last year, whether it was fully his fault or not, Williams struggled mightily. However, he was also not asked to do much. Most of his rushing attempts went up the middle of the field for minimal gains.

Dobbins, though, has fewer limitations as a rusher. Another year removed from his latest season-ending injury, the injury-prone Dobbins looks as strong and quick as ever. Because of his rehab, Dobbins isn’t limited to any one kind of run. He isn’t used in any one gap much more than the rest, and he’s been extremely efficient. His emergence has been a great sign for Denver.

The Broncos love to get Nix on the run, and Dobbins’ success will force defenses to respect the team’s play-action calls, and if Nix feels freer, the offense will move the ball, and the defense won’t need to carry the weight of the world on its shoulders.

Plus, Harvey hasn’t even been relied on heavily yet. Going into Monday’s victory, Harvey had 13 total carries in his young NFL career. Monday night, he had 14 carries for 58 yards and four catches for 40 yards and a touchdown. Harvey is more explosive than Dobbins, but each of them can break a big play. The matchup with a porous Cincinnati defense gave Harvey the chance to find his legs and build some confidence moving forward.

Not every game will be that easy for the Denver rushers, but Monday’s win over the Bengals showed the potential this group has, and the better they perform, the less Nix will be expected to carry the team in only his second season in the league.