Evaluating Jonah Coleman as a rookie for fantasy football purposes requires a heavy dose of patience, but his three-down upside makes him an incredibly intriguing stash for your bench.
Should You Draft Jonah Coleman in Fantasy Football?
Currently in PFN’s Free Fantasy Mock Draft Simulator, Broncos running back Coleman is coming off the board with an ADP of 165.5. That’s about the 17th round, depending on how many people are in your league. That’s around the consensus of what PFN’s fantasy experts Kyle Soppe and Jason Katz have. They have Coleman ranked as RB54 on their board, 171 overall, with a projected points per game of 6.51 in PPR formats.
I’m going to be very interested to see what Coleman can do, because I think he’s much more valuable in a dynasty league than he is going to be in a redraft league this year. Coleman’s going to be battling with the likes of J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey for touches. Harvey has already shown that he can be a reliable receiving back, and he had a lot of PPR value last year. Dobbins, when healthy, was pretty consistent at putting up big numbers, and he averaged over 70 rushing yards per game in the games that he did play.
Coleman has some nice stash potential. I really liked his tape as a power back in Washington, and he was really good in pass protection, even though that doesn’t necessarily translate to fantasy. If Dobbins gets hurt, which honestly feels more like a when than an if, Coleman is somebody I anticipate would still be in a committee with Harvey. I don’t anticipate Harvey would take the entire lion’s share of the carries in that Denver offense. At the same time, I don’t necessarily know how high Coleman’s ceiling is while Dobbins is still in that backfield.
I think you’re looking at Coleman strictly as a third-string running back. If you’re in a deep league with a lot of teams or a lot of bench spots, I’d consider using a handcuff on Coleman for the sake of what is going to happen when Dobbins gets hurt.
But all things considered, Coleman is somebody I’m not looking to particularly draft this year in your standard 10- or 12-man leagues. He’s somebody worth keeping an eye on in the waivers for sure, for whenever that seemingly inevitable thing happens and Dobbins does get hurt. In the meantime, I’m not itching to use a roster spot on him with his current ADP of 165.5. I know that’s not incredibly high, but I’m going to pass on Coleman for the time being and ultimately wait to play my luck on the waiver wire, because I don’t know how productive he’s going to be on a week-to-week basis when all those running backs are healthy.
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Jonah Coleman’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
I think rostering Coleman is a sharp idea. J.K. Dobbins struggles to stay healthy, and R.J. Harvey graded out as one of the worst true running backs as a rookie. If Dobbins goes down, I think Coleman is the one who gains the most and, in that same vein, I think there’s a chance he leads this team in rush attempts when 2026 is said and done.
But don’t get carried away.
I like him as much as you do, and I didn’t give starting him a second thought for Monday night. Keep an eye on the metrics of Dobbins: he’s the starter now, but I don’t think Sean Payton is too tied to that thought.
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Where Coleman Ranks Among 2026 Running Backs
- RJ Harvey | DEN
- Chris Rodriguez Jr. | JAX
- Aaron Jones Sr. | MIN
- Zach Charbonnet | SEA
- Woody Marks | HOU
- Tyler Allgeier | ARI
- Keaton Mitchell | LAC
- Mike Washington Jr. | LV
- Tank Bigsby | PHI
- Jonah Coleman | DEN
- Tyjae Spears | TEN
Want more? PFN’s 2026 PPR Rankings have 200+ players ranked.
