Sean Payton had one final spin in store for his 2024 running back rotation.
Heading into Denver’s Wild Card game at Buffalo, Payton decided Tyler Badie was ready to come off of injured reserve, where he’d been since a Week 4 back injury.
To make room for him on the game-day roster, the Broncos relegated fifth-round rookie Audric Estime to the inactive list.
Payton told the CBS broadcast during the week’s production meetings that he had big plans for Badie in the game, but the Broncos fell behind in an eventual 31-7 loss and Badie played three snaps, carrying twice for 8 yards.
Badie first got his chance early in the season when Estime missed four games with an ankle injury. By the time Estime returned, Badie was out.
That made the playoff game the first time Payton and the Broncos really had a choice between the pair. They chose Badie, though Payton described the move as being matchup-specific.
“We felt like, for this game, it was something that we wanted to do,” the coach said after the game.
In myriad combinations, this is essentially how it went for Payton and the Broncos at running back the entire year.
The Broncos primarily used Javonte Williams, who departed for Dallas on a one-year deal earlier this month, and Jaleel McLaughlin as their starters. They mixed in Estime, Badie and undrafted rookie Blake Watson at varying volumes and their actions at different times showed confidence in each. None, however, really ever caught on.
Payton midseason said he wanted to see more Estime. The rookie got 14 carries Week 10 against Kansas City — including critical ones late in the game — but then only didn’t see more than nine in a game until Week 18 and was a healthy scratch in the playoffs.
Badie looked to be ascending in the team’s plan early in the year after a big game at Tampa, only to end up hurt the next week.
The Broncos felt strong enough about Watson to protect him with a roster spot for much of the season, though he ultimately appeared in two games and got four carries.
The revolving door didn’t yield any clear answers behind an offensive line that ESPN ranked No. 1 in the NFL in run block win rate.
All of that has led to the position being one of the Broncos’ foremost needs this offseason despite four players — McLaughlin, Estime, Badie and Watson — under contract for 2025.
Just as critically, it’s the only top-shelf need Denver hasn’t yet addressed in free agency.
Part of that lack of action is because free agency presented a largely lackluster group of options. It’s also because the coming draft class is widely regarded as a deep and talented group.
Longtime ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. recently said on a conference call with reporters that running back is, “the deepest position in the draft. I have 31 running backs with draftable grades.”
Whether Denver ultimately lands a veteran like J.K. Dobbins will speak to what Payton and the Broncos really think about the rest of their running back group. Signing him would put essentially the entire remaining quartet on notice.
Typically only three running backs are active on game days. Denver was heavy when it carried five for a time on its 53-man roster, especially since none of the Broncos’ returning backs were core special teamers last year. Estime led the group with a total of 66 snaps.
Dobbins, who has dealt with multiple major injuries to his left knee and Achilles since 2021, was resurgent for the Los Angeles Chargers early in the year. He averaged 4.8 yards per carry — although it was 3.8 after a two-game blitz to open the season — and scored eight touchdowns before a left MCL sprain cost him four games in December. Upon his return, Dobbins averaged 3.6 per carry over three games.
Payton and the Broncos have rushed to fill some roster holes but they’ve stayed patient in other spots and have avoided signing a veteran where they think a promising young player’s development might be hampered.
The question, then, isn’t about whether Payton thinks he needs a top-of-the-room guy at running back. He clearly does.
The question is whether that’s the extent of the to-do list at the position. How Denver proceeds on the free-agent market over the next couple of weeks should provide the answer.
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