Broncos' J.K. Dobbins promises to lead NFL in rushing in 2026, avoid injuries like 'Elasti-Boy'

J.K. Dobbins has heard the criticisms and knows folks don't believe he can stay healthy long enough to make a season-long difference.

He's done with that reputation. One goal is on the Broncos running back's list above all else: Lead the NFL in rushing. It's a lofty aspiration and one that's realistically only possible by playing in all 17 games, something he's yet to accomplish in six years (five seasons) in the NFL. But Dobbins is intent on making it happen in 2026.

“I know a lot of people always say, ‘Oh, he’s good for the first 10 weeks.’ Like, I’ll be in the top three (in rushing) for the first 10 weeks, right? And they’ll be like, ‘Dude, he does this every time,'” Dobbins said Friday, via the Denver Post. “Well, this year, forget a top three. I’ll keep saying it. People think I’m crazy -- but I’m going to be No. 1. And I’m going to keep it there for the whole year, 17 games.”

Training camp is the prime window for players to set the most ambitious goals, but Dobbins' seems especially astronomical, given the fact he's never played a full season in his career.

Dobbins missed a game as a rookie after being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, then experienced a string of devastating injuries over the next three seasons that included a torn ACL suffered in the final week of the 2021 preseason, another less severe knee injury that cost him nearly two months in 2022, and a torn Achilles in 2023. Two more promising campaigns ended prematurely in 2024 and 2025 due to an MCL sprain and Lisfranc injury, with the latter coming as a result of a hip-drop tackle.

Five seasons. Three significant injuries. It's almost as if Dobbins' pro career is cursed.

He's viewing it differently. Instead of chalking up his football fate to bad luck, Dobbins took a proactive approach in 2026 that might remind folks of a training style popularized by legendary quarterback Tom Brady.

Dobbins invested in flexibility with the belief that a better range of motion will increase his chances of staying on the field.

“So, like, when I was younger, I could do the splits, right?” Dobbins said. “I think I lost a little bit of that flexibility. I just wasn’t paying attention to it as much. So now I’m back to that, and back to my college ways. And I did all the little things, and I’m doing all the little things that’s going to keep me, like -- even if it’s some fluky stuff that’s about to happen, I’m going to be like Elasti-Boy, or Elasti-Girl, or something like that.

“I’ll be over there, bounce back up from it,” Dobbins continued, bending his body in an attempt to demonstrate his strategy. “Like, if I get hip-drop tackled, I can tuck my head to the back of my foot and I’ll get back up.”

Dobbins' explanation isn't the first example of a notable player spending an offseason focusing on injury prevention. Former Dolphins quarterback and current Atlanta Falcon Tua Tagovailoa once spent an offseason training in jiu-jitsu and judo to learn how to fall safely.

The results backed the approach: Tagovailoa completed his first full season, playing all 17 games in 2023 and helping Miami reach the postseason.

With the backing of the Broncos' front office -- which re-signed Dobbins despite his season-ending foot injury -- Dobbins is aiming for even an even greater finish.

“Just, keep going,” Dobbins said. “That’s what I’ma always do. Until I can’t. Like, until I just physically can’t. But I think I’m blessed to where I could just go until I’m like, 40.”