Among Sean Payton’s many –isms is his specific view on an offense’s running-back carousel, crafted from years of wildly different skill sets in New Orleans. It’s easy to feature two RBs, Payton has said. Harder to feature three.

And yet the Broncos now find themselves with three running backs who demand featuring.

“I think it’s a good problem to have,” Payton said Thursday, asked if he still believes in his own adage. “I know you can feature two. I think three is difficult sometimes. But I’m not worried about that right now. Just — let’s go, and these guys are all competing for their spots.”

Two days later, asked on Payton’s two-not-three belief, Broncos running backs Lou Ayeni visibly suppressed slight disagreement. The truth is that Denver did find concrete roles at times last season for three backs — RJ Harvey, Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie all had their niche down the stretch — and there’s wiggle room in new coordinator Davis Webb’s offense for a stable of RBs to run.

J.K. Dobbins will lead the pack again. RJ Harvey is developing and has torn Denver linebackers and safeties up all camp on wheel and choice routes out of the backfield. Plus, the Broncos didn’t draft Jonah Coleman early in the fourth round just to stash the rookie in 2026 — and Coleman’s already outrunning expectations in training camp.

“Listen, if you’re a good player, we’ll find a way to use you,” Ayeni told The Post on Saturday. “Like, yeah, I understand what Coach is saying about – I don’t know if it’s about featuring them, or putting them all in the right position to help us win games. I think that’s what we’ll do with those guys.”

The greater force powering this potential three-back carousel is Coleman, the 220-pound rookie who made an immediate impression on Denver’s brass in an initial interview at the NFL Combine in February and has only gained momentum since. Ayeni noted, specifically, that Coleman played for Washington head coach Jedd Fisch for all four years of college football, who comes from a pro coaching tree and told The Post this spring that the running back will walk into the Broncos’ building with an understanding “of a lot of NFL protection schemes.”

That has played out through Denver’s offseason program and beyond, as Coleman has frequently made plays as a chip-and-release back in passing situations during team periods this training camp. When asked Wednesday if any player has been a pleasant surprise in camp, Payton took a few seconds to think before specifically pointing to Coleman: “You don’t feel a rookie,” Payton said.

Ayeni took that evaluation a step further on Saturday.

“You just see a guy who doesn’t get rattled,” Ayeni said on Coleman. “He can solve problems on the field. He’s a quick processor. And there’s just no panic in his game. There’s a lot of little savviness to him, for a rookie. Which is kind of hard to – usually, you grow into that. And he’s already got it. And I think the biggest thing for me with him is, like, man, he’s a lot better route-runner than you think. Got a little more quickness than you think. Better hands than you think.

“He’s just a good football player.”

In team periods, through a few weeks of camp, Coleman has already put more on tape than Harvey in getting skinny on between-the-tackles carries, which was a major growth point for the second-year back in his rookie season. Harvey scored 12 touchdowns in 2025 and was one of the more impressive backs in the league in bouncing off contact in the open field. But he appeared to struggle with his vision and decisiveness in hitting holes at times as a rookie, trying too often to hit home runs to the edge and averaging just 3.0 yards per carry when running outside the tackles.

Harvey, still, hasn’t had many flashy reps through camp on cutting back to an inside hole on wide-zone carries. Still, he took clear RB1 reps Saturday in an apparent veteran-rest day for Dobbins, and the Broncos are encouraged by his progress in several areas. Ayeni’s own kids, after all, darted around on the practice field wearing No. 12 Harvey jerseys.

“I just see a better player,” Ayeni said of Harvey. “I really do. I see a player out here – like, he’s a fast kid already, and that was always his crutch. But now he’s playing faster.”

In particular, Harvey took leaps last season as a pass-protector because he had to, as Ayeni pointed out, with Dobbins’ season-ending injury in Week 10. Denver’s utilization of Badie as their third-down back last season wasn’t just because the Broncos trusted him more in obvious pass-protection situations; it was also to give Harvey a “breather,” as Ayeni said, as he was banged up down the stretch in 2025 while shouldering an RB1 burden.

Coleman brings ready-made third-down traits, with pass-catching ability and enough force as a blocker to lift Commanders first-round LB Sonny Styles from air to dirt in a game against Ohio State last season. But Harvey has been getting significant work as the primary back in hurry-up team periods, signaling more trust in him in pure-passing situations.

“He certainly has the mind and the ability to go do that stuff, and then maybe we can get him more involved in some of the pass-game stuff when we’re doing it.”

The room, as a whole, has taken a massive leap — as Payton has pointed out several times — since the Broncos’ head coach first arrived in 2023. Badie’s role may become obsolete with Coleman’s addition, but he’s still a steady, high-IQ veteran who Denver trusts on passing downs. Fourth-year RB Jaleel McLaughlin has flashed typical standout speed on both pass-catching and outside runs in camp, and Denver has liked December waiver-claim Cody Schrader enough to give him significant third-team touches in camp.

“Name six running backs on an NFL team,” offensive coordinator Davis Webb proclaimed Saturday, “that are as good as our depth right now.”

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