If there's one recent draft pick on the Denver Broncos roster who is under a lot of pressure in 2025, and seemingly more by the day, it's got to be 2024 5th-round running back Audric Estimé.
Estimé has been talked about in pretty much every light this offseason. He's been discussed as the possible RB1 in Denver for the 2025 season and he's been talked about regarding the roster chopping block. Ultimately, it feels unlikely that the Broncos would give up on Estimé after just one season with the team, but there are plenty of reasons to buy that theory as well.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton recently name-dropped a sleeper running back on the roster in a specific category that could perhaps be the latest bit of evidence to tip the scales toward maybe worrying a bit more about Estimé's roster status.
Is Tyler Badie a threat to Audric Estimé's roster spot with Broncos
Payton was asked at Broncos OTAs about the young running backs getting reps in pass protection, something that this team lacks in terms of proven on-field ability. Here's how he responded to that question:
"[RB Tyler] Badie is very good in that area. So early on, we’re seeing all of them get the work."
- Sean Payton (via Broncos PR)
Here we have a classic bit of unprompted offseason praise for a very specific player. We have to decide whether or not it means anything.
If you really want to dive deep into some tinfoil hat kind of stuff, think about the fact that Badie was called into action rather early last year, and almost immediately gave the Broncos' offense a spark. He was then going to be the featured back against the New York Jets in Week 4 but suffered a pretty bad injury that kept him out for the majority of the 2024 season.
When he was healthy enough to return, Badie was activated for the Broncos' playoff game and Estimé was benched. Now, you've got Sean Payton calling out Badie as someone on the roster -- right now -- who excels in pass protection.
Not that Badie is a threat to steal the RB1 role in Denver, but he might be a legitimate threat to Estimé's roster spot. Badie could also potentially be a factor in the kicking game as he returned kicks for a few years at Missouri and has big-time speed.
At this stage of the offseason, it's all just fodder for discussion, but it's comments like these that you file away in the "significant" category from Sean Payton. He doesn't just throw names out there to just throw them out there. Payton likes Badie, obviously, and perhaps he's more of a factor in the running back discussion than anyone is expecting at this point.