Sean Payton is nothing if not a historian.
His lessons are usually built upon stories from his many years in New Orleans, usually revolving around a cast of central characters: Drew Brees, Pierre Thomas, Cameron Jordan and the like.
On the Thursday before the Broncos’ final preseason game in a reunion with New Orleans, though, Payton reached back even further for a name lost to history: Bashir Levingston, who played two NFL seasons with the New York Giants from 1999-2000.
In the final week of the ’99 preseason, with a single spot on the Giants’ initial roster up for grabs, undrafted Levingston ran back a kickoff for a touchdown. Payton was a quarterbacks coach in New York at the time. And a few days later, he was sitting for a final cutdown meeting with the Giants’ staff and late owner Wellington Mara.
“It’d be hard to take points off the board,” Mara said, as Payton recalled, amid a discussion over Levingston or a defensive lineman. And, thus, Levingston won a final roster spot.
There are still some “real important” roster decisions to be made, Payton said Thursday. And the message of his Levingston anecdote was simple: one well-timed play Saturday can shape the Broncos’ 53-man roster. Payton and the team’s coordinators have emphasized this week that the initial roster is by no means finalized, and a slew of depth pieces find themselves with one leg in and one leg out of the bubble.
“There’s some real good battles going on,” special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi said this week.
With that in mind, let’s highlight the five Broncos with the most at stake heading into Saturday’s 11 a.m. kick against the Saints.
Audric Estime, RB
Yeah, we’ve touched on this. Estime did enough last season as a fifth-round rookie to convince Payton and his staff that he deserved regular late-season touches for a 10-7 team. He also did enough to convince Payton and his staff that he shouldn’t be active for a Wild Card game in Buffalo. He has yet to do enough this preseason to convince Payton and his staff he should be more than fifth in line for touches.
Theoretically, the path to a roster spot is still there. No other back on Denver’s roster is capable of having the same short-yardage impact. Estime just hasn’t shown a consistent ability to hit inside holes this preseason, with 41 yards on 17 carries. He might need a Levingston-level burst against the Saints to climb ahead of Tyler Badie.
Caleb Lohner, TE
Payton might eventually make the 6-foot-7 Lohner into the next Jimmy Graham. Right now, though, the Broncos rookie looks like what he is: a seventh-round pick who’s played very little football in his life. He racked up three penalties Saturday against the Cardinals — two more penalties than catches he’s had all preseason.
“We gotta get going,” Payton said this week.
He’s looked more than capable as a receiver over the middle and as a blocker for stretches of camp. But Payton’s remarks weren’t exactly glowing, and the Broncos’ tight end room is stuffed. It’s unlikely another team would make space for Lohner on their final roster, meaning Denver could elect to send him through waivers and let him develop on the practice squad rather than stash him with a roster spot.
Eyioma Uwazurike, DL
Will Denver elect to keep seven defensive linemen? Maybe. Is that likely? Maybe not. Uwazurike and Jordan Jackson have been competing side by side for a roster spot the majority of camp, and there’s no real leg up in the race. Both are 27. Both have upside. Uwazurike, though, has been less consistent than Jackson in game reps, with a couple of penalties this preseason.
It’d be a tough proposition for the Broncos to cut a 2022 fourth-round pick, but it’d also be a tough proposition for them to keep Zach Allen, John Franklin-Myers, D.J. Jones, Malcolm Roach, Sai’vion Jones, Jackson and Uwazurike with the amount of depth already there. Whatever way the Broncos are leaning, Uwazurike needs to continue putting good tape together against New Orleans.
Sam Ehlinger, QB
Ehlinger’s done more than enough this preseason (20 of 26, 217 yards, a touchdown) to show he should be on an NFL roster. But he’s not beating out Jarrett Stidham for the Broncos’ backup job, so this becomes a question if Denver values him enough to take three quarterbacks on their initial roster. That will determine if Ehlinger makes the full $1.3 million on his one-year deal in Denver or hundreds of thousands on the practice squad.
Damarri Mathis, CB
There’s little path to a roster spot for Mathis, at this point. The Broncos have perhaps the best five-deep of cornerbacks — Pat Surtain II, Riley Moss, Ja’Quan McMillian, Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine — in the NFL. Slowly, over the course of his rookie deal in Denver, Mathis has gotten phased out of a role.
He still carries pedigree, though, as a 2022 fourth-round pick with proven playing experience from his rookie year (65 tackles, seven pass deflections). Most NFL teams need corners. Mathis could easily play his way into trade or waiver-wire consideration Saturday.
“These guys understand that it’s not just the position here with this team,” Payton said. “You’re putting tape together for the other 31 teams.”
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