Sean Payton is nothing if not a historian.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
On the Thursday before the Broncos\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
In the final week of the \u201999 preseason, with a single spot on the Giants\u2019 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\u2019 staff and late owner Wellington Mara.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019d be hard to take points off the board,\u201d Mara said, as Payton recalled, amid a discussion over Levingston or a defensive lineman. And, thus, Levingston won a final roster spot.<\/p>\n
There are still some \u201creal important\u201d 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\u2019 53-man roster. Payton and the team\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some real good battles going on,\u201d special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi said this week.<\/p>\n
With that in mind, let\u2019s highlight the five Broncos with the most at stake heading into Saturday\u2019s 11 a.m. kick against the Saints.<\/p>\n
Audric Estime, RB<\/p>\n
Yeah, we\u2019ve touched on this<\/a>. 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\u2019t be active for a Wild Card game in Buffalo<\/a>. He has yet to do enough this preseason to convince Payton and his staff he should be more than fifth in line for touches<\/a>.<\/p>\n Theoretically, the path to a roster spot is still there. No other back on Denver\u2019s roster is capable of having the same short-yardage impact. Estime just hasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Caleb Lohner, TE<\/p>\n Payton might eventually make the 6-foot-7 Lohner into the next Jimmy Graham<\/a>. Right now, though, the Broncos rookie looks like what he is: a seventh-round pick who\u2019s played very little football in his life. He racked up three penalties Saturday against the Cardinals \u2014 two more penalties than catches he\u2019s had all preseason.<\/p>\n \u201cWe gotta get going,\u201d Payton said this week.<\/p>\n He\u2019s looked more than capable as a receiver over the middle and as a blocker for stretches of camp. But Payton\u2019s remarks weren\u2019t exactly glowing, and the Broncos\u2019 tight end room is stuffed. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Eyioma Uwazurike, DL<\/p>\n Will Denver elect to keep seven defensive linemen? Maybe. Is that likely? Maybe not. Uwazurike and Jordan Jackson<\/a> have been competing side by side for a roster spot the majority of camp, and there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n It\u2019d be a tough proposition for the Broncos to cut a 2022 fourth-round pick, but it\u2019d also be a tough proposition for them to keep Zach Allen, John Franklin-Myers, D.J. Jones, Malcolm Roach, Sai\u2019vion 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.<\/p>\n Sam Ehlinger, QB<\/p>\n Ehlinger\u2019s done more than enough this preseason (20 of 26, 217 yards, a touchdown) to show he should be on an NFL roster. But he\u2019s not beating out Jarrett Stidham<\/a> for the Broncos\u2019 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.<\/p>\n Damarri Mathis, CB<\/p>\n There\u2019s little path to a roster spot for Mathis, at this point. The Broncos have perhaps the best five-deep of cornerbacks \u2014 Pat Surtain II, Riley Moss, Ja\u2019Quan McMillian, Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine \u2014 in the NFL. Slowly, over the course of his rookie deal in Denver, Mathis has gotten phased out of a role.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThese guys understand that it\u2019s not just the position here with this team,\u201d Payton said. \u201cYou\u2019re putting tape together for the other 31 teams.\u201d<\/p>\n