ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Through four games, the Denver Broncos' search for Mr. Right in the run game is still in progress. Or the quest for the right combination of Mr. Rights. Or the journey to discover any run game. But this isn't a new problem.
Let's go back to Jan. 27, two days after the Broncos lost the AFC Championship Game to the New England Patriots. In his season-ending news conference, Broncos coach Sean Payton said: "When we want to run it under center and control a game, we've been able to do it a few times, but not as much as I'd like."
Fast forward almost nine months later. After a 24-14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers dropped the Broncos to 2-2, a visibly frustrated Payton said: "I think at half we were at 30-some (rushing) yards, that's something that has to get better."
The Broncos will enter their Week 5 matchup against the 0-4 Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday in SoFi Stadium (4:05 p.m. ET, CBS) with a murky at best rotation in the backfield. That has resulted in Denver having the 29th-ranked rushing attack in the league at 81.3 rushing yards per game. At 40.3 rushing yards per game, J.K. Dobbins is the only Broncos back among the league's top 65 rushers and is below 12 quarterbacks. So, Denver hasn't been able to find that reliable back it can depend on.
"Overall, just the consistency and our approach -- whether it's in the shotgun or under center -- that will continue to be a focal point for us," Payton said earlier this week. "It's always in these details."
The struggles boiled over against San Francisco, as a frustrated Dobbins exchanged words with running backs coach Lou Ayeni on the sideline during a game in which he finished with 11 carries for 40 rushing yards. Denver running backs ended up with 20 carries for 72 rushing yards (3.6 yards per carry).
The Broncos' backfield was set back early when fourth-round rookie Jonah Coleman suffered an ankle injury in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars and placed on injured reserve. He'll be eligible to return as soon as the Broncos' Week 7 game against the Arizona Cardinals but showed flashes of being a complement to Dobbins prior to the injury. His decisive running nature stood out, and he led the team with 39 yards on 10 carries and a second-half touchdown in the comeback victory over the Jaguars.
That leaves Dobbins, who leads the team in carries (46) and rushing yards (161) in a current rotation with second-year man RJ Harvey (12 carries, 49 yards) and Tyler Badie (four carries, 10 yards). That group hasn't meshed smoothly. Only once has a Broncos running back had more than 11 carries in a game -- Dobbins had 17 carries for 49 yards in a Week 3 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Broncos offensive coordinator Davis Webb has cited a lack of assertiveness on carries -- especially from running backs not named Coleman -- as a reason why the backfield hasn't gotten on track.
"I think we have to run with a little more conviction, for sure," Webb said. "When they can see a hole, run through it, full speed ahead. And I think our runners do that, I just think there's been some times where that can be a little bit better and I anticipate that getting better."
Leaving yards on the field has been a problem. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, all three running backs currently on the active roster have a negative average rushing yards over expected, a metric which measures how many yards a ballcarrier gains in comparison to how well a play is blocked.
Dobbins ranks 52nd in the NFL with minus-0.6 yards over expected per carry, and his 3.5 yards per carry is well below the 5.0 he averaged last season (153 carries for 772 yards) before getting hurt in Week 10. Harvey averages minus-0.8 yards over expected per carry, with Badie at minus-1.8 in a very small sample size. Even Coleman, at 0.1 yards over expected per carry, has essentially gotten the yardage that is blocked.
By comparison, the Kansas City Chiefs' Kenneth Walker III leads the league at 2.5 yards over expected (minimum 10 carries), with the Atlanta Falcons' Bijan Robinson in second at 1.95 yards over expected.
The Broncos' inability to run the ball has bled into the passing game, too. With the running backs not providing oomph on the ground, defenses have been content to sit back with two safeties deep in coverage to prevent downfield strikes in the passing game, relying on their front seven to contain the run.
That's been successful at both levels, as the Broncos' passing game is 29th in air yards per attempt (5.9) and 20th in pass plays of 20 or more yards. Broncos quarterback Bo Nix knows how important it is to get the running backs going to make his job easier.
"I think overall when you get 2-high zone you just want to run the football," Nix said. "And so we just got to find ways to continue to do that."
But who will take the reins and be that consistent backfield running threat? Is it as simple as waiting for Coleman to return from injury? Payton has promised to "look at everything" to get the run game going, and facing the Chargers' 22nd-ranked run defense might help a bit.
It's a mixed bag between Sunday and Denver's Week 10 bye, as the Broncos will face the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks (No. 11 in rushing defense), the Cardinals (No. 20), Chiefs (No. 5) and Carolina Panthers (No. 32) in Weeks 6-9.
"It's not one thing," Payton said. " ... It's still that work in progress, with the runners, all of it, the coaches, what we're doing. We'll get there."