Broncos

Coming off a great year where the Broncos made a run to the AFC Championship game, Hall of Fame CB Champ Bailey had great things to say about Denver RB RJ Harvey. Bailey thinks HC Sean Payton did a great job handling his workload, but thinks they need to put him in space more in 2026 and pair him with a downhill runner. 

“[H]e did great,” Bailey said, via Brandon Walker of the Broncos Wire. “I think that’s the thing about rookies, man. There’s going to be moments where it jumps on them too much. And I just felt like (Sean Payton) didn’t put too much on his plate too early. And then once J.K. Dobbins went down, you saw his snap count go up. And rightfully so, because he made some really good plays.”

“I was happy to see the way he ran between the tackles and how tough he was. I just think they need to dial that up a lot more this year, make sure they got a healthy running back room. And feature him and put him in space and then get somebody who can run downhill, you know, line him up in the backfield with somebody else.”

Chargers

• The Chargers plan to retain wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal and quarterbacks coach Shane Day. (Jeremy Fowler)

Raiders

Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza is poised to be the top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft after winning the Heisman Trophy and leading the Hoosiers to the National Championship. Indiana OC Mike Shanahan praised the quarterback’s competitive drive and his ability to respond after taking hits. 

“Whenever he got the crap knocked out of him a few times this year, it was his ability to bounce back and not let that affect him,” Shanahan said, via Bruce Feldman of The Athletic. “Iowa stands out to me; Penn State, he got hit a little bit; that first play against Ohio State, … obviously, everybody was holding their breath a little bit on that one. His willingness to lay it on the line every single week for his teammates, I’ve been very impressed with.”

Shanahan said Mendoza showed a great comfort level in the pocket and poise to deliver passes downfield. 

“You can see his comfort level in the pocket,” Shanahan said. “Whenever you’re third-and-8 (and) you gotta have a 15-yard throw, he’ll stand in there. He’s got good feel, and he’ll deliver a great, accurate ball down the field. (He) trusts the protection around him and stays in the pocket. That was one of the points of emphasis that we had for him, and he’s really taken that to heart.”

Former Indiana and new Buccaneers QBs coach Chandler Whitmer quickly noticed Mendoza’s “natural ability” after he transferred from Cal. 

“I saw the talent,” Whitmer said. “I also saw a lot of things that we could clean up. I didn’t want to hold that against him, because I didn’t know how he was being coached, but you could see the natural ability. I just needed to polish him up a little bit, so we spent a lot of time diving into that.”

• Former Iowa RB coach Omar Young has been named the running backs coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. (Adam Schefter)