Broncos RB RJ Harvey shows he’s ‘grown up quick’ in punishing performance vs. Raiders

Sean Payton smirked the upturned mouth a tell for the -pound ace hidden up his sleeve There s that saying Payton disclosed Wednesday solicited on rookie RJ Harvey s progress You haven t seen anything yet ' Anything arrived on Sunday the making of a true three-down back taking shape inside a muscled-up gameplan against the Raiders The Broncos saw Harvey as a runner first and foremost when they drafted him out of UCF in the second round in April They saw the balance The vision Everything else Harvey s expected as a pass-catcher Payton declared Sunday came later And yet for much of his rookie season that everything else came first in Harvey s advancement change-of-pace runs to the outside choice routes out of the backfield pass-protection When starting running back J K Dobbins suffered a Lisfranc injury in a Week win over the Cowboys these Broncos needed the pieces of Harvey s newfound role to click back with what he did best at UCF Run And run hard But for two games against the Chiefs and Commanders even as he contributed in the red zone and passing challenge Harvey was bottled up on the ground yards per carry Against the Raiders though Payton deployed Harvey as his battering ram behind a mighty front Denver turned often to heavier and run-blocking-oriented groupings against Las Vegas a - band that nonetheless flummoxed the Broncos back in a previous November matchup And Harvey bludgeoned his way to yards on carries and a touchdown in the Broncos - win adding six catches for yards through the air The dude s a freak left tackle Garett Bolles described The Post after the encounter I mean there s a reason why we drafted him the way we drafted him He s just getting better and better The rookie has swapped a great number of hats in learning the intricacies of pass-protection and route-running while working behind Dobbins in a change-of-pace role On Sunday he completely tugged all those hats on at once Payton drew up the first play of the challenge for him a well-screened -yard swing pass that s become an increasingly large part of the Broncos offense Three plays later quarterback Bo Nix swung the ball to Harvey again on a checkdown on a rd-and- There was no hope here Raiders linebacker Jamal Adams read Nix perfectly and jolted Harvey as soon as he touched the ball a full pounds ramming him at full speed Harvey backpedaled a scant strategies turned and drove Adams into the grass in Vegas wheeling away for a first down and a four-yard gain that felt like He s got good contact balance Payton announced Sunday Big-time effort by RJ Harvey to stay on his feet to pick up first down DENvsLV on CBS Paramount https t co HkKw uXVnt pic twitter com QQCd aD R NFL NFL December That played out for four quarters Sunday in another critical large-scale improvement to the Broncos stretch run The Raiders threw heavy doses of heavier defensive personnel at the Broncos Payton adjusted by deploying consistent doses of run-block-oriented personnel groups himself and having Nix check into runs at the line of scrimmage if the Raiders were in their base defense The upshot Harvey received of his carries against a stacked box Sunday eight or more defenders near the line of scrimmage Harvey came into Week averaging just yards per contact against stacked boxes according to Next Gen Stats Against the Raiders he churned for yards and a touchdown on carries yards per carry on such runs repeatedly hitting inside holes and pushing piles for extra yardage Related Articles Keeler Think Broncos are NFL playoff frauds Not when Sean Payton calls championship like he did vs Raiders Through up-and-down year Broncos Marvin Mims stays focused on return championship That s his release Broncos analysis Sean Payton Bo Nix deliver ugly-by-design - win vs Raiders Broncos defense closing on NFL s sack record but still not pleased with performance late vs Raiders PHOTOS Denver Broncos defeat Las Vegas Raiders - in th straight win NFL Week Doesn t go down very easily Bolles announced He just is a wrecking crew man And it was just a moment of time until he hit his stride In Week Harvey turned down a couple opportunities to hit inside holes for chunk yardage and instead tried to bounce runs outside resulting in an inefficient day despite two touchdowns yards on the ground on carries Teammates and coaches have praised Harvey s IQ throughout the season though And the rookie focused clearly Sunday against Las Vegas in finding the gaps in the trenches Harvey s held up well in expanded pass-protection situations in the last three games too And for the Broncos to keep winning ugly they ll need Harvey to keep playing like a vet He s grown up quick Payton announced because of the injury to J K Want more Broncos news Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis