What Broncos' RB Tryouts Suggest About Beat-Up Backfield

With injuries mounting in the backfield, the Denver Broncos worked out a trio of free-agent running backs on Tuesday.

Per the NFL's transaction wire, the Broncos held tryouts with RBs Marcus Yarns, Sam Scott, and Jaden Nixon — none of whom have officially been signed as of this writing.

Yarns is arguably the most notable name of the troika. Undrafted in 2025, he briefly latched on with the New Orleans Saints before heading to the United Football League, where he played for the Houston Gamblers.

The 5-foot-11, 198-pound back played his collegiate ball at Maryland, totaling 365 carries for 2,344 rushing yards (6.4 yards per attempt) and 23 touchdowns across 44 games. He added 64 catches for 812 receiving yards and 11 TDs.

"Two-year starter from the FCS who needs a very specific role to have a long-term chance," reads his NFL Media scouting profile. "Yarns was a productive three-down player at Delaware. He’s a slender long-strider with good top-end speed but has very little contact balance and is not built for interior runs in the NFL. He will need to improve his route-running so he can rebrand as a change-of-pace slasher with pass-catching talent."

This is the second such tryout for Yarns, whom the Broncos also hosted during Organized Team Activities in June. He left that visit without putting pen to paper.

Perhaps that changes now.

What This Tells Us

The Broncos could be somewhere between seeking an insurance policy and merely doing due diligence given the state of the running back position, with starter J.K. Dobbins leaving Week 2 with leg cramps and backup RJ Harvey inactive due to a hamstring issue.

Denver doesn't release its first Week 3 injury report until Wednesday. However, if Dobbins is limited and/or if Harvey remains sidelined, the club would be down to rookie Jonah Coleman and deep reserve Tyler Badie as its only healthy backs.

If neither Yarns nor the other tryouts are signed, it may suggest confidence that Dobbins and Harvey are trending toward playing against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football.

“So yesterday, [RB] RJ [Harvey] was out, and then [RB] J.K. [Dobbins] got nicked up and wasn’t able to finish," head coach Sean Payton told reporters on Monday. "None of that today on Monday is at a place where we’re—I think all three of those players we’re discussing can be bell cow, handle a majority of the carries. Yes, I think there’s a lot ahead of us this week relative to who our runners are going to be.”

Sign up for our free Denver Broncos On SI newsletter and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!

Add us as a preferred source on Google