Audric Estime
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Denver Broncos running back Audric Estime.
As far as his second preseason as an NFL player could have gone, this can’t be what Denver Broncos running back Audric Estime imagined when he thought about 2025.
According to Denver Post sports columnist Sean Keeler, you don’t have to read the tea leaves to see what’s going on with Estime as Denver head coach Sean Payton continues to say positive things about how he wants to use Estime … and Estime continues to fail to deliver the goods.
The latest example was a fall-flat-on-your-face performance in a 27-7 preseason win over the Arizona Cardinals on August 16 in which Estime had 9 carries for 20 yards (2.2 yards per carry).
Estime not only finds himself buried on the depth chart after 2 preseason games, he could very well find himself without a job when the 53-man roster is announced next week.
“You could argue with a straight face that Estime, the Broncos’ fifth-round pick from the 2024 draft, is being set up to fail,” Keeler wrote on August 17. “That he was stuck behind second- and third-team blockers. That a so-called big back, a power back, needs a village to move the chains consistently. And that’s fair. On the other hand, every other tailback on the Broncos’ roster Saturday, playing with those same offensive line backups, also landed some kind of moment to hang on the wall.”
Broncos’ 53-Man Roster Leaves Estime Out
One fellow Broncos reporter’s view of the running backs room for the Broncos isn’t much different than Keeler’s, as Parker Gabriel left Estime, a 2024 fifth round pick (No. 147 overall) off his latest 53-man roster projections.
Gabriel has the Broncos projected to keep 4 running backs; J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, Tyler Badie and Jaleel McLaughlin.
Estime was fourth on the Broncos in rushing as a rookie with 310 yards and 1 touchdown while averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
“Payton wasn’t any clearer about this tight race in the moments after Saturday night’s game (against Arizona),” Gabriel wrote on August 18. “McLaughlin had the biggest play of the night and Badie continues to be a solid performer who’s also probably Denver’s second-best pass protector after Dobbins. There’s still some ballgame left here, but at this point, it’s hard to see Audric Estime or Blake Watson making the cut. Either would be a high-quality practice squad player, though a team that had a good grade on Estime out of the draft might be tempted to take a waiver wire flyer on him if he’s cut next week.”
Estime Recently Called Out for ‘Pouting’
Former Broncos running back and 1,000 yard rusher Phillip Lindsay recently called out Estime for “pouting” over being buried on the depth chart early in training camp behind Harvey and Dobbins.
Lindsay implied that attitude issues have been an issue for Estime dating back to his rookie season.
“Show the coaching staff that you want this job,” Lindsay said. “Instead, with Audric Estime, it seems like he would walk to his rep or when he’s sitting there it’s like he’s not paying close enough attention or he’s going through the motions because he’s pouting … to the coaches it seems like you’re the same person as last year, and when things don’t go your way, you pout.”