NEW ORLEANS — A power runner like Audric Estime thrives on repetition and rhythm. And those are two aspects of carrying the football that are typically lacking for a running back in preseason football, when a team is trying to get upwards of five or six runners the work.
But the Broncos’ second-year running back found the closest thing to that on Saturday, and the result was a performance that allowed him to finally show what he could do.
“Yeah, I feel like they kept me out there for a good amount of time, and that was definitely appreciated,” he said.
“I showed I can pass-protect, catch the ball and run the rock. And yeah, that felt good to be out there for a whole drive.”
The result was a game in which he led all Broncos running backs in rushing yardage and yardage from scrimmage, averaging 5.6 yards per carry while picking up 53 total yards and 45 rushing yards on just eight carries.
“I feel like I had to finish the preseason strong. I feel like I did,” he said. “But there’s definitely room for improvement. There’s definitely still want some more, more improving to do.”
Was there enough improvement? That is the question now.
RJ Harvey and J.K. Dobbins seem set at the top two running-back slots. With Dobbins getting Saturday off, Tyler Badie played some snaps with the Broncos’ first team, and his pass-protecting prowess could land him on the 53-player roster.
Then there’s Jaleel McLaughlin, a third-year veteran who could finally settle into the role for which he seems best suited — that of a dynamic “change of pace” back. His 35-yard gallop was the Broncos’ longest rush of the preseason, and at times the last two years he’s had to keep Denver’s ground game afloat despite not being ideally suited to the role of every-down back.
Estime had a brief opportunity to seize that role last year, but an early-season injury and occasional ball-security foibles kept him from securing it.
By the wild-card round, he was a healthy scratch in favor of Badie. And then the arrivals of Dobbins and Harvey put him squarely on the bubble.
“To make the team is not up to me,” he said. “It’s up to the coaching staff, and it’s honestly up to God.
“And I feel like I did what I needed to do to put myself in position to be on it. But at the end of the day, Sean [Payton] knows what’s best for this team, and I’m just putting my trust in God, and I feel like I did what I needed to do.
Added Payton: “I thought Audric did a good job in general.”
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WHERE BRONCOS’ ESTIME MADE PROGRESS
As is the case for most young players, Estime feels he’s reacting quicker.
“Yeah, I’d say I’m thinking less, just being in a playbook more being the second year in this playbook,” he said. “I feel like I’m playing more fast and more decisive.”
Perhaps most importantly of all: He went through training camp and the preseason without putting the ball on the ground. The ball-security issues that were a bugaboo last year didn’t recur throughout the summer.
So far, Estime has done his part to try and earn the coaches’ trust.
Now he’ll find out whether it was enough to earn a Broncos roster spot.
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