Broncos draft pick that was written off is suddenly stacking days at camp

To say it's been a tough offseason for Denver Broncos running back Audric Estimé might be an understatement at this point. The Broncos selected RJ Harvey in the 2nd round of the 2025 NFL Draft before signing veteran JK Dobbins, basically solidifying a new top two backs for the 2025 season.

And that left Estimé on the outside looking in, it seemed. Then, former Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay called out Estimé on his radio show for allegedly "pouting" about his placement on the depth chart.

The only thing Estimé could do is control the controllables at training camp, which is taking advantage of every single rep he gets. And the Broncos have no reason to be motivated to push him off the team, because Estimé was one of the most promising backs we saw last season and is also the youngest player on the team.

Audric Estimé standing out early at Denver Broncos training camp

It's one thing to flash at training camp, but another thing entirely to stack days. Estimé has been doing the latter since the Broncos put on the pads, which should come as no surprise and is no coincidence in its timing.

The running back competition is obviously ongoing for the Broncos, even though there's going to be a concerted effort to get JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey on the field as much as possible. Players like Estimé and even Blake Watson, who has had a solid couple of days at camp as well, could force the Broncos' hand when it comes to assembling this roster.

The assumption is that the team would carry just three running backs, but these guys might force head coach Sean Payton to keep four.

At certain points last year, there were up to five backs on the roster, so it wouldn't be unheard of.

The Broncos stated last year that they had a third-round grade on Estimé in the 2024 NFL Draft, where they managed to get him in the fifth round. Estimé struggled early on with fumbling the football, which seemed to earn him a semi-permanent stay in the proverbial doghouse until we saw him get extensive action in the middle of the year.

And Estimé's running against the Kansas City Chiefs on the road was some of the best running we saw from any back at any point in the 2024 season. It gave some hope that he could perhaps play a bigger role going forward, but the Broncos obviously invested quite a bit in that position after the year was over.

Regardless of any assumption about where he might be on the depth chart, Estimé is doing exactly what you've got to do -- stack days at training camp. And we'll see where that leads.