Sean Payton coddles Audric Estime the way Lucy Van Pelt coddled poor Charlie Brown.
Like Lucy, Payton keeps promising Estime the football. Like Lucy, Sunshine Sean keeps pulling the rock away at the last minute.
“We knew we wanted two-thirds of the game to get to Blake (Watson) and Audric, and I think we were able to accomplish that,” Payton said after the Broncos stomped Arizona, 27-7, in the Backup Bowl on Saturday at Empower Field.
“It’s not an exact science. But those guys got a lot of work. I thought they did a good job with their opportunities.”
In the third quarter, Estime carried the rock just twice, netting minus-1 yard. Watson, one of Audric’s primary competitors to make this roster as a third or fourth running back, logged four totes for 21 yards on the ground while catching two more passes.
For the evening, Watson wound up with 14 touches for 54 all-purpose yards. Estime had nine touches for 20 yards. While his peers ran with authority, he plodded.
“All of ‘em, I thought, played well,” Payton said of his backs. “Which, I don’t know if (that) clears up our (competitions), but — look, I thought we got into the defense, we got downhill into the defense a number of times … and I thought as the game wore on, our down and distances, our third down(s), were much more favorable than theirs.
“The plan was, early on, it was RJ (Harvey), and then it was going to be RJ, obviously (Tyler) Badie was going to get work. Then Jaleel (McLaughlin), Audric, and then Blake.”
Only the rotation was Harvey, then Badie, then McLaughlin, then Watson … then Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo, Gummo, Snap, Crackle, Pop … and then Estime. The latter sat until there was 11:23 left in the third quarter.
Once No. 23 checked in, he chugged for 2 yards on his first carry. On the next snap, Estime got a 9-yard gain off right guard, wiped out by an illegal shift penalty — Denver’s fifth pre-snap flag of the evening.
Alas, poor Audric! Blink and you missed him.
Arizona defenders sure didn’t.
You could argue with a straight face that Estime, the Broncos’ fifth-round pick from the 2024 draft, is being set up to fail. 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.
Harvey found the inside seam on an 8-yard touchdown run, sprinting like a man possessed.
Tyler Badie ran a kickoff back 27 yards.
Jaleel McLaughlin gashed the Cards for a 35-yard gain.
Blake Watson snared a 17-yard pass.
Estime?
Estime lost a contact lens. Allegedly.
“We all push each other each and every day during practice,” offered Harvey, the second-round pick out of Central Florida. “And it’s a joy to be around all those guys. We all get along, and I want to see everybody go out there and make plays. It’s real good to be in a room full of great backs.”
One of them’s got to go. J.K. Dobbins is one of those solid, all-around veterans you can trust to catch or block on third down. Harvey is the young workhorse. McLaughlin is the shifty home-run hitter. Badie is the special teams weapon.
Ask yourself this: What does Estime, right now, do well? Catch the ball? Convert on short yardage? On third-and-1 at the Arizona 33 with 5:21 left, the big guy took a shotgun pitch and immediately got swarmed for a 2-yard loss.
Maybe Payton’s running the best preseason subterfuge campaign ever to make Estime look bad on film. Maybe he’s trying to sneak the kid through waivers.
Or maybe Estime just isn’t meant for this roster. Maybe he’s this year’s Baron Browning, blessed with enough talent to stick on somebody’s 53.
Just not this one. Not now.
Estime left the locker room late Saturday without talking to reporters. But if his dauber’s down, he sure hasn’t shown that to Harvey.
“He’s still young. I’m young too. We’re just learning,” the rookie told me. “And whatever questions I have, he comes with answers and he’s willing to help me …”
“Like a big brother?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Harvey replied with a grin. “But I’m actually older. We’ve been messing with each other about that.”
Harvey’s 24. Estime’s 21, with a birthday coming up on Sept. 6.
With the latter, that raises questions about ceiling, about potential, about mileage and tread. About not giving up on a young back too soon.
And yet Broncos radio reported during the game that Estime, at one point, couldn’t enter the fray because he’d … misplaced a contact.
August is when blockheads get cut. And it doesn’t take 20/20 vision to see where Payton’s going next.
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