Summer break is just starting around the NFL but Jaleel McLaughlin’s time for rest and relaxation is pretty much finished.
The third-year Broncos running back is a renowned worker. He knows no other way after being a barely recruited, no-star college prospect who put up ridiculous numbers at the Division II level and FCS Youngstown State, went undrafted in 2023 and plowed his way into the league by sheer force of will.
Add in a 2024 season he said wasn’t good enough by his standards and then an offseason in which Denver added two high-profile backs — second-round draft pick RJ Harvey and free agent signing J.K. Dobbins — and McLaughlin’s got no time for quiet time.
In fact, after a baby shower in North Carolina this past weekend, McLaughlin said the only things on his summer list are to join Bo Nix and Co. for their summer throwing get-together and working out on his own.
“I’m getting straight to work for sure. I’m not taking no down time,” he said last week. “I didn’t even take down time in the offseason, for real. I’ve just been working.”
McLaughlin saw his workload tick up last fall in his second pro season, jumping from 18% playing time as a rookie to 29% last year. He started five games, finished second to Javonte Williams in carries (113) and yards (496) and at times during the season looked primed to take over full-time duty. He ran for a touchdown and caught two, though overall his 24 catches (27 targets) went for just 76 yards.
In Denver’s 31-7 Wild Card loss to Buffalo, McLaughlin rushed twice for minus-2 yards and caught a pass but was stopped for no gain.
The Broncos cleaned out their lockers the next day back in Denver and mostly scattered to the wind. Not McLaughlin.
“I was back working that same week,” he said. “I left a lot out there last year and I know that. So I’m working hard to be the best I can this year for sure.
“I didn’t take much time because I had a sour taste in my mouth.”
According to Next Gen Stats, McLaughlin was 38th out of 44 qualified running backs in rushing yards over expected at minus-0.4 per carry. Javonte Williams, the only other qualified Broncos back, was No. 43. McLaughlin was No. 41 on the same list in rushing yards after contact (333). He fared much better in terms of success rate, or rushes that produce a positive estimated points added, checking in No. 13 overall at 44.2%. McLaughlin, per NGS, also averaged 11.2 miles per hour at the line of scrimmage, the second-fastest mark among running backs with at least 100 carries behind only Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson.
All of that adds up to a mixed bag in terms of production.
A bottom line number McLaughlin isn’t pleased with, though: His longest play from scrimmage in 2024 was a 21-yard rush against New Orleans in Week 7. On that play, he took a toss to the right and might have scored had safety Tyrann Mathieu not dove and got his right arm around McLaughlin’s ankle.
That was the way it went all season for McLaughlin and for the Broncos’ running backs in general. They got to the second level frequently, but hardly ever turned doubles into home runs.
“Really just turning those 12-yard plays into 80 and 90 or 50 and 60-yard touchdowns. That’s what I’ve been trying to work on,” McLaughlin said. “… It’s that small. If you juggle a ball — especially because everybody in the league is good and plays fast and real smart — that can definitely change a game. If I don’t catch the ball clean, if I take one false step. I’ve been working on the little things for sure.”
McLaughlin knows the running back room is more crowded now than it was back in January. He said he embraces the fact the team drafted Harvey. ”He’s a hard worker. He’s very smart. Great football player,” he said of the rookie. And the group is working hard to improve its pass-protection prowess, McLaughlin said.
Camp figures to be a heated competition for roster spots and roles in that group that features Harvey, Dobbins, McLaughlin, Audric Estime, Tyler Badie and Blake Watson.
“They’re going to get opportunities,” head coach Sean Payton said last week. “Audric is going to get opportunities. We’ve seen Jaleel. Don’t try to figure out the club right now. It’s way too early.”
There’s no such thing as too early for McLaughlin.
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It was dark when he arrived that morning. The sun showed up after he started the next day of trying to cement his spot in Payton’s 2025 plans.
Arrival time? 4:40 a.m.
“Nothing crazy,” McLaughlin said.
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