Broncos coach Sean Payton hasn’t forgotten about the running backs he has on hand

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Denver Broncos are drafting a running back. And that runner could well be the team’s primary ball-carrier — perhaps the “three-down back” that teams crave, but often proves elusive and hard to find, a point that general manager George Paton made again when he met media at the NFL Annual Meeting this week.

“Not as many three-down backs,” Paton said, “But it’s a good class. We’ll get a [running] back in this draft.”

But the Broncos added a running back in last year’s draft, too — Audric Estimé. They also had another undrafted rookie last year — Blake Watson, a pass-catching back who started slowly but stuck on the 53-player squad coming out of training camp, although the team snuck him to the practice squad in October.

There’s also Tyler Badie, who appeared poised to seize the RB1 snaps in Week 4 after exploding in the second half at Tampa Bay before suffering a back injury that put him on the shelf until the playoff game at Buffalo.

And there’s Jaleel McLaughlin, who was the Broncos’ most consistent back among a three-headed monster of himself, Estimé and the since-departed Javonte Williams during the second half of the season.

These players matter.

So, when Broncos coach Sean Payton was asked about the attributes he seeks when scouting running backs — after all, he was a running-backs coach in the 1990s, with eventual Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk as one of his pupils — he gave a detailed answer, but as he concluded his response, he offered this reminder:

“Make no mistake about it: We’re wanting to see our group at home get these opportunities now,” he said. “So that competition, I think will help.”

Perhaps the world has forgotten about what the Broncos have on hand in their pantry.

But Payton hasn’t.