DENVER — Sean Payton should drive Jonah Coleman like he stole him. Because, by golly, did he ever.

Fourth round? $885,000 base salary? $1.19 millon cap hit? For the guy who’s been arguably the Denver Broncos’ best runnner in camp since they put pads on?

Bargain of the draft.

With soft-tissue injuries mounting, it’s not a stretch to call Coleman Broncos Country’s most important rookie.

Especially with J.K. Dobbins, Payton’s RB1, limping off the field during Monday’s drills.

When the Broncos visit Atlanta on Friday night in their preseason opener, it’s not all about the scoreboard. It’s about narratives. Bo Nix’s ankle. Davis Webb, Payton and the play-calling operation. Sam Ehlinger’s ascent. The rise of Pat Bryant III. Somebody, anybody, flashing from the tight end room.

But I want to see if Coleman can do to the Dirty Birds, or least Atlanta’s first or second team stoppers, what he’s been doing in Dove Valley since the start of the month.

I want to see if Coleman is the J.K. comp this team missed last December and January. The bruiser. The grinder. The workhorse.

The eye test says Dobbins’ strengths are Coleman’s. So do the numbers.

First downs? Last fall, when everybody who lined up against the Washington Huskies knew what was coming, Coleman averaged 5 yards per carry with 11 of 83 carries piling up at least 10 yards. The season before that, he rattled off 5.8 yards per tote on first down, with 19 of 110 attempts going for at least 10 yards a pop.

Short-yardage? On third-down-and-3-yards-or-less last fall, Coleman notched a first down on 11 of 15 attempts. The year prior, he was 7 for 11.

Among running backs drafted in 2026, Coleman ranked second in broken tackles forced by the wonks at Pro Football Focus. No. 1 in his class? The only cat ahead of him? Jeremiyah Love, the No. 3 overall pick by Arizona, whom the Cardinals just gave $53 million guaranteed on his rookie deal — the most for a tailback in NFL history.

Since 2014, only two FBS backs with at least 500 collegiate carries have averaged more opponent missed tackles per rush than Coleman: Bijan Robinson, Ashton Jeanty and David Montgomery. Let’s see. That’s the best runner in the NFL now; a former No. 6 pick who piled up 975 yards on the ground for a laughable Raiders offense last fall; and a veteran who’s currently on a streak of seven straight seasons of at least 700 rushing yards.

Darn good company, I’d say.

There’s more. Blocking? What Coleman lacks in size (5-foot-8, 220 pounds), he makes up in sheer rage. PFF graded him out with a 70-plus (out of a 100) or better in pass-blocking with Washington each of the last two seasons. Also per PFF: three sacks allowed in four seasons as a collegiate blocker.

The book says Coleman committed just one fumble in 639 collegiate touches as a runner or receiver with Washington and Arizona. And only one drop over more than 120 targets as a receiver.

In other words, safer than a steel deadbolt. Trustworthy. The kind of guy Payton craves, and will inevitably need, given that Dobbins joined the soft-tissue injury club Monday — a table that’s already got Jaylen Waddle and Marvin Mims Jr.

“I think he’s going to be fine,” Payton said of Dobbins. “We’re just being smart with it.”

It wasn’t just smart to draft Coleman out of the University of Washington. It was borderline genius. Dobbins is 27. He’s coming off the best two back-to-back seasons of his NFL career, a high-stepping, high-volume hammer who’s averaging 4.8 yards per touch since 2024. You need a tone-setting run on first down, he’s your man. You need a tough couple yards on third-and-short, No. 27 knows how to move those chains north.

It’s just that, over these last two seasons, he’s also averaged only 12 appearances and 10 starts. At his peak.

Dobbins has become the Broncos’ version of Aaron Gordon: Physical, essential, a good teammate and a fan favorite … whose body also has a habit of repeatedly failing on him.

The Broncos were 8-2 (.800) last fall when Dobbins started and 6-0 when he touched the rock 16 times or more. The Nuggets went 27-9 (.750) during the ’25-26 regular season when AG played and 26-7 (.788) when he started.

The parallels are more than a little uncanny, aren’t they? When both are healthy, their teams feel whole, their systems make sense. And if they weren’t there, neither franchise had truly found a comparable replacement in case of an injury.

Until now.

Coleman has spent the last 11 days or so looking like the Broncos’ most complete runner after Dobbins himself. Willing blocker? Yep. Weapon out of the backfield? That, too. Angry runner inside? Check. Secure with the football? Absolutely. Home-run speed? Sure, although maybe not to the degree of an RJ Harvey, Tyler Badie or Jaleel McLaughlin.

Harvey’s strengths are his second and third gears. You just rarely saw them between the tackles. And that’s fine. If Harvey becomes the Broncos’ version of James White, it’s not necessarily a wasted draft pick. As a speedster who’s better in space, beating defenders around the perimeter, Harvey’s more of a compliment/caddy to Dobbins, more lightning to his thunder, than a like-for-like substitute.

“I think (as a) young runner,” Payton noted last week, “you don’t feel like a rookie with Jonah.”

Thank goodness for that. You’ll say it this weekend. You’ll say it Week 5. And Week 10. And in the AFC Championship game, if the fates are kind.

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