Training camp is underway for the Denver Broncos and the rest of the NFL as of Wednesday as football season is just around the corner. One of the biggest parts of training camp is narrowing the roster down from 90 guys to 53 by the time camp is all said and done, and in doing so, every team ends up having some surprise cut candidates.

Phillip Lindsay, a former Pro Bowler with the Broncos and a training camp cut himself when the Colts released him ahead of the 2022 season, had a hot take on who could potentially be a camp cut at the end of August when it’s time for teams to finalize their 53-man squads.

What classifies as a ‘surprise’ cut as opposed to a regular cut?

“A surprise camp cut, to me, when I’m thinking of this, is a guy that, obviously, you’re not expecting to be cut. For example, Tim Patrick last year,” Lindsay said on The Drive on Tuesday.

Patrick was coming off back-to-back season-ending injuries suffered in training camp, and the Broncos couldn’t find a trade partner for him. When the deadline to narrow the roster to 53 players came around, the front office decided that it was safer to opt with rookie receiver Troy Franklin, even after Patrick took a pay cut that dropped his salary by more than $8 million.

Lindsay had another injury-riddled player in mind to be this year’s surprise.

“For this year, although I don’t believe that this player is going to get cut, there’s still a possibility if things don’t go right for him. And his name is J.K. Dobbins,” Lindsay said.

Even though the Broncos signed Dobbins to the squad just over six weeks ago, that doesn’t mean the coast is clear for the 26-year-old back.

“The reason why I bring up J.K. Dobbins is, you added him late. Say that he gets into camp and he gets hurt. He has an injury history, this is why I’m bringing it up, knock on wood, I’m hoping that he doesn’t get hurt. And he gets hurt and he misses two or three weeks, RJ Harvey emerges as the No. 1 running back, Jaleel [McLaughlin] and Audric Estime end up doing well, it’s like, ‘Hey, let’s just stick with the young guys and they’re cheap,’” Lindsay said.

The back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher with the Broncos backed up his reasoning even further, saying that Harvey is a lock to make the roster and the Broncos could opt to have McLaughlin as the speed guy, which leaves Estime and Dobbins as two players with similar archetypes. If Estime, who was Sean Payton’s draft pick just a season ago, performs well in camp and Dobbins struggles to get going, potentially due to injury, this is a very real scenario that could come to life. Estime also makes less money than Dobbins, who has a contract full of incentives, which could be another factor in opting with the young back over the seasoned vet.

Dobbins is heading into his sixth season in the NFL, but has played in just 37 games due to the injury troubles. He’s shown an ability to pack a punch for an offense when healthy, as he’s averaged 5.2 yards per carry throughout his career, but like Lindsay said, if things don’t go his way in camp over the next three weeks, the Broncos’ brass will be left with a very tough decision as to who they want to keep around as the third running back on the squad.

Listen to “The Drive with Zach Bye and Phillip Lindsay” weekdays from 2-6 p.m. MDT on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan.