 Harvey at the2025 Senior Bowl | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 12 – Denver Broncos | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positions | Running back •Kickoff returner | ||||||||||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (2001-02-04)February 4, 2001 (age 24) Orlando, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school | Edgewater(College Park, Florida) | ||||||||||||||||
| College | UCF (2020–2024) | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2025: 2nd round, 60th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 11, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
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Robert "RJ"Harvey Jr. (born February 4, 2001)[1] is an American professionalfootballrunning back andkickoff returner for theDenver Broncos of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theUCF Knights. Harvey was selected by the Broncos in the second round of the2025 NFL draft.
Harvey was born inOrlando, Florida.[2] He began playing football at age five.[3] He attendedEdgewater High School in Orlando and played three varsity football seasons as adual-threat quarterback.[3] Although the team lost every game in hissophomore year, he helped them rebound with a 9–3 record and district championship the following season.[3] As asenior, Harvey threw for 42touchdowns and 1,815 passing yards and ran for 1,350 yards and 22 scores as the team reached the state playoffs with a 12–2 record.[4] He also maintained a 4.3grade-point average (GPA) off the field.[4] Harvey was ranked a three-star recruit and the 39th-best dual-threat quarterback nationally, committing to playcollege football for theVirginia Cavaliers.[5]
As a truefreshman at Virginia in 2019, Harvey was the third quarterback on the depth chart andredshirted, not seeing any playing time.[6][7] He then entered theNCAA transfer portal and transferred to theUCF Knights.[6] In 2020 at UCF, after changing position torunning back he appeared in five games and ran twice for three yards as a backup.[8] He had a chance to be a starter entering the 2021 season, but suffered atorn ACL in preseason camp and missed the entire year.[8]
Harvey returned in 2022 and appeared in 13 games with three starts, being named second-team All-American Athletic Conference (AAC) byPro Football Network (PFN) while running 118 times for 796 yards and five touchdowns, in addition to 22receptions for 215 yards.[9] He entered the 2023 season as the team's top running back.[10] Starting on October 7 againstKansas, he had five consecutive games with over 100 rushing yards, the longest streak at the school since 2007.[10] Against 15th-rankedOklahoma State, he ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns, helping UCF win 45–3 in anupset.[11] He was named a semifinalist for theDoak Walker Award as best running back nationally and became the first UCF player to run for over 1,000 yards in a season since 2018. With 1,416 yards & 16 TDs, Harvey had the sixth-highest amount of running yards and rushing touchdowns in the nation.[12]
| Season | Games | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | ||
| Virginia Cavaliers | |||||||||||
| 2019 | Redshirt | ||||||||||
| UCF Knights | |||||||||||
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | Did not play due to injury (ACL) | ||||||||||
| 2022 | 13 | 3 | 118 | 796 | 6.7 | 5 | 22 | 215 | 9.8 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 13 | 10 | 226 | 1,416 | 6.3 | 16 | 19 | 238 | 12.5 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 12 | 12 | 232 | 1,577 | 6.8 | 22 | 20 | 267 | 13.4 | 3 | |
| Career | 40 | 25 | 579 | 3,792 | 6.5 | 43 | 61 | 720 | 11.8 | 4 | |
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | 29 in (0.74 m) | 9 in (0.23 m) | 4.40 s | 1.57 s | 2.55 s | 4.34 s | 38.0 in (0.97 m) | 10 ft 7 in (3.23 m) | 16 reps | ||
| All values fromNFL Combine[13][14] | ||||||||||||
Harvey was selected by theDenver Broncos in the second round (60th overall) in the2025 NFL draft.[15] On July 17, 2025, Harvey signed his four-year rookie contract.[16]
Harvey made his NFL debut on September 29, 2025 during Week 4 of the2025 NFL season against theCincinnati Bengals, recording 98 total yards and a receiving touchdown in a 28-3 victory.[17]
During Week 8 of the season, Harvey recorded 3 touchdowns, including a 40-yard touchdown run—the longest touchdown run scored by a Broncos player since 2021—in a 44-24 victory over theDallas Cowboys. Harvey was named the Week 8NFL Rookie of the Week for his performance.[18]
Harvey is a cousin of professional boxerRoy Jones Jr.[19]
