Film Room: Why Jonah Coleman Could Be a Steal for Broncos

With the 108th selection in the 2026 NFL draft, the Denver Broncos selected Washington running back Jonah Coleman. A stocky player with incredible contact balance, Coleman comes to the Broncos as a high-quality and pro-ready prospect who can play on all three downs for the offense.

Despite Jeremyiah Love and Jadarion Price being drafted in the first round, this year’s group of running backs left a lot to be desired in terms of talent and depth overall. Coleman was the fourth running back drafted this year, with Kaelon Black being the only back selected on the second day of the draft.

Coleman was widely considered a top-three prospect at the position, with several analysts even having him as the second-best player behind Love, who went third overall. Mike Washington Jr. ran a 4.33-second 40 at the NFL Combine, but he didn't hear his name called until No. 122 overall, landing with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Coleman, who turns 23 in August, began his collegiate career with two seasons at Arizona before transferring to Washington his junior year. A team captain with over 50 total games played, he was incredibly productive both as a runner and as a receiver over his final three collegiate seasons.

At Washington, Coleman ground out 1,811 yards on 349 attempts (5.2 yards per attempt) wth 25 touchdowns, along with 531 receiving yards on 54 receptions in 25 total games (22 starts).

Diving further into the statistics and analytics reveals a player who may have been dramatically overlooked in this year’s class. According to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis, Coleman recorded a first down or touchdown on 35% of his carries, had 71% of his total yards come after contact, and averaged 12.4 yards after the catch.

All of those were the best of any running back in the class. Coleman also did great work when met at the line of scrimmage, posting the highest yards per carry and first down percentage of any player in the class, as well.

Coleman is well-built with a strong lower half, has more than adequate shiftiness to slip tackles with ease, and shows incredible patience and vision as a runner. He modeled his game after former Pittsburgh Steeler running back Le’Veon Bell, and you can see it all over his tape.

Coleman isn't the fastest player in the class, but he does have enough juice to rip off explosive runs of 15 or more yards with relative ease.

This is my favorite selection of the Broncos’ draft haul. Let’s have a look at Coleman in this week’s film review.

Play 1: Vision & Patience

Jonah Coleman reading Duo to perfection. He has the patience to let his blockers get set, identifies the lane, then buries his head for a solid gain.

You can't do it much better than this. pic.twitter.com/1gbBIDio3p
— Lance Sanderson (@LanceS_MHH) April 28, 2026

One of the reasons I really like Coleman as a fit in Denver is the scheme utilized by the Washington Huskies. They show a nice blend of inside zone and DUO schemes, which is a lot of what the Broncos do in their running attack.

Coleman has tons of experience running behind double teams at the point of attack, and he knows how to get his foot in the ground and get north and south in a hurry. On this play, Coleman reads DUO to perfection, pressing the B-gap with plenty of patience to allow his blocks to get set up.

Once the left tackle works his way to the second level, Coleman jump cuts and slashes right behind him. He runs with great pad level here, and that first step burst out of his jump cut is fantastic. He finishes the run strong and falls forward for more yards after initial contact, which is a staple of his tape.

Play 2: Burst Through Narrow Gaps

Jonah Coleman on split-flow zone. The tight end gets caught in the wash on the wham block as the tackle pins down. Watch how Coleman sees the second level crease open up behind the guard.

That's high quality vision as a runner. pic.twitter.com/pFLy5Ui7YS
— Lance Sanderson (@LanceS_MHH) April 29, 2026

This is another great example of Coleman’s vision as a runner, but I really like his burst through what appears to be a paper-thin hole at the second level. Washington runs an inside zone play here, and the left tackle gets beaten across his face immediately. That defender also blows up the tight end, who is supposed to kick to the outside to block the linebacker at the second level.

Coleman stutter steps as he approaches the line of scrimmage, allowing the tackle to drive the defender down the line and opening a running lane behind him. Notice left guard here, as he climbs to the second level to pick off the middle linebacker.

Once the left guard lands on the defender and gets him turned to his left, Coleman slashes through the hole immediately and rips off a huge gain on what could have been a busted play. If not for his vision, patience, and burst, this could have been a disaster for the Washington offense.

Coleman also shot through the hole behind the left guard just in time to beat the linebacker.

Play 3: Getting Skinny

Here's Coleman on inside zone with a FB lead. He does a nice job of getting downhill and skinny through the gap, then buries his head for extra yards. It's not spectacular, but that will play at the next level. pic.twitter.com/Lz3dl32BHO
— Lance Sanderson (@LanceS_MHH) April 29, 2026

This is a simple inside zone with a fullback being inserted as a lead blocker. It’s nothing flashy or spectacular, but it is fantastically blocked by the Huskies. While the Broncos don’t use a fullback very often, they run a lot of this scheme in their offense.

Coleman reads this play to perfection and does a great job of becoming hard to see in the gap. While he is only 5-foot-8, he is a bigger running back at 220 pounds.

What you’re seeing here is Coleman's innate ability to flatten his shoulders through narrow gaps and still run with exceptional power, also known as “getting skinny." That subtle but noticeable trait translates to the NFL level because you take a large target and make it hard to see and land firm contact as a tackler.

Coleman does this a lot, and when he does get hit at the second level, he constantly falls forward. On this particular play, he adds four extra yards after first contact while carrying two defenders for a ride.

Play 4: Bowling Ball Runner

More inside zone here for Coleman, and it's blocked to perfection. He might have the best contact balance in the class, and was one of the best in forced missed tackles, 1st down/TD%, and YAC in 2025.

Dude runs through first contact with ease, then fights for 6. pic.twitter.com/qGDZcwCOkA
— Lance Sanderson (@LanceS_MHH) April 29, 2026

Much like former Broncos running back C.J. Anderson, Coleman has a knack for making smaller defenders bounce and slide off of his frame when running in open space. These are fun plays that flash all over his tape.

Coleman runs with a firm base, a low center of gravity, thick legs, physicality, and toughness. A lot of his explosive runs happen because he is so hard to tackle, not because of elite-level speed and explosiveness.

This play is a perfect example. Washington blocks up an inside zone play to perfection, and Coleman has plenty of room to get his bowling-ball style up to speed. The first player to touch him is a safety running the alley, and it happens four yards downfield.

Allowing Coleman that much time to get rolling always resulted in multiple missed or broken tackles at Washington. He then runs through three different defenders en route to an incredible touchdown run.

Over the course of his career, Coleman averaged .316 forced missed tackles per carry, which is the fourth-highest mark of any running back since 2014, according to Pro Football Focus.

Play 5: Three Down Ability

One of Jonah Coleman's best attributes is his ability in pass protection. This montage comes from the Rutgers game, but he shows willingness like this over several games on his tape.

Technical, willing, and physical at the POA. pic.twitter.com/b7SYTwHpcn
— Lance Sanderson (@LanceS_MHH) April 29, 2026

One of the best ways to see the field as a young running back is to show prowess on all three downs. Coleman showed smooth and reliable hands as a receiver out of the backfield, and he was productive when doing so. While I didn’t see route-running versatility on his tape, Coleman showed quality in space as a receiver as a checkdown option and working towards the flats out of the backfield.

What stood out the most was his proficiency in pass protection. Out of the 14 running backs I evaluated for this year’s class, Coleman was the best of the bunch.

He displayed the vision to identify blitzers, understood his assignments, and showed up with a great base and power at the point of attack. You have to be fearless to take on players running at you at full speed, and Coleman showed that by delivering more forceful contact than defenders coming downhill.

He showed some mirroring ability as the play developed and finished blocks at a high level.

The Takeaway

One of the biggest needs for the Broncos this offseason was to add a quality rotational player to the running back room who could be relied upon should J.K. Dobbins go down with another injury. Dobbins has had injury concerns his entire career, and RJ Harvey hasn't displayed enough ability to win between the tackles consistently.

Coleman provides a player with starting running back upside who can carry the load, even if Dobbins doesn’t get hurt.

Coleman is a perfect fit for the scheme, running back room, and locker room as a whole. As a team captain and academic All-American who was nominated for the William V. Campbell Trophy (the “Academic Heisman"), Coleman fits exactly what the Broncos have been looking for in the Sean Payton era.

While he may not be the most explosive athlete, Coleman's vision, patience, and burst make up for it, creating explosive results. His consistency on a down-to-down basis cannot be overstated, and he rarely has negative runs.

Coleman only fumbled twice over his college career, so he can be trusted in multiple facets. Landing a player of his caliber with the 108th selection is an incredible value pick for the Broncos.

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