With preseason games quickly approaching, we might soon get some answers about the Denver Broncos‘ running back rotation.

After letting Javonte Williams walk during free agency, Denver brought back Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime, Tyler Badie and Blake Watson. The Broncos then used a second-round draft pick to select R.J. Harvey and two months later, they added veteran J.K. Dobbins late in free agency. So, how will the rotation shake out?

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“Good question,” Denver coach Sean Payton said early in training camp. “I mean look, a lot will go into it. How many are you keeping? Practice squad? Badie had some real good work. And obviously Jaleel, so I think I said this at the start of camp from experience, a lot of that stuff will sort itself out and I think I said this, when we finish playing New Orleans, we’ll have a better idea of how that’s going and you’ll have seen more evidence in the games, the joint practices. All of this stuff matters. Yesterday was one of the better days for some of those guys, and you brought up two of them, and Blake had two or three exceptional runs. Audric was stacking a couple of days. So it will be the body of work.”

The Broncos will face the San Francisco 49ers in a joint practice on Thursday, followed by a preseason game on Saturday. Payton specifically referenced the Saints game because that is Denver’s preseason finale. After two joint practices and three preseason games this month, everyone will have a better idea of how the RBs stack up.

The Broncos are going all in on an outsize zone running scheme this fall, and fans will get a first look during the 49ers game this weekend.

“We’ve tweaked some things,” Payton said. “I think we’ve always wanted to be kind of an outside zone team and we’re just kind of committing to it. All the backs — it’s not just the new guys — everyone’s doing a really good job. J.K. brings some stuff to him. It’s really awesome to see. RJ is doing really well, Audric, Jaleel, ‘T.B.,’ Blake, everybody. That room’s going to be exciting.”

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Not much clarity from Payton, but it’s still early. We’ll get answers in the coming weeks.

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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Denver Broncos: Running back rotation will take take shape this week