DENVER — It's game day again in the Mile High city.
And while a majority of the Broncos' starters aren't expected to play against the Cardinals on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. MT, 9NEWS/NFL Network), there's still plenty that matters in the prime-time matchup.
In the Broncos' lone home preseason game, a slew of players could continue to build their cases for roster spots.
"Those are invaluable snaps," Head Coach Sean Payton said Thursday. "… Most importantly, is [gaining] more information, more data that can help us to the right decisions."
As we near kickoff, here's a look at what to watch for in Saturday night's matchup:
HOW DOES THE RUNNING BACK COMPETITION UNFOLD?
The competition continues on.
As the Broncos take on Arizona, they're still in the midst of determining who will earn roster spots at the running back position. And with two preseason games remaining, every snap and carry could matter.
"Here's the deal: You're right where I'm at, and we don't know yet," Payton said of the competition. "If you recall, at the start of training camp I said, 'We're all going to know,' and I hopefully am going to be right. But we all don't know [yet], and it's still a very competitive spot.
"… We're not there yet. The good news is we still have 10, 11 days, and hopefully we can get there and we will all know."
Payton highlighted Jaleel McLaughlin, Tyler Badie, Audric Estime and Blake Watson as the players they're wanting to get "a ton more exposure" of during the game.
"That's one of those position groups of like, 'Let's find the argument for Tyler,'" Payton said. "'Let's find the argument for Audric, let's find it for Jaleel.' You're rooting for all of them."
If the competition is too tight to call, Payton also mentioned the contributions on special teams could play a factor.
WHO STANDS OUT AT WIDE RECEIVER?
Running back isn't the only position group where there will be difficult choices when roster cutdown day arrives.
"There'll be some tough decisions," Payton said Thursday. "There's a chance a receiver that might be out here today might be on a 53[-man roster] somewhere else. So, it's a good thing."
Payton said the depth at both receiver and running back is a reflection of the overall state of the team.
"We're just further along," Payton said. "We're so much further along as a roster, and that elevates quite naturally the play of everyone."
Each day in training camp, a different young receiver has made a play — and nine different receivers caught a pass during Denver's first preseason game.
As Denver looks to build its 53-man roster and 16-player practice squad, a big performance against the Cardinals may go a long way.
CAN EACH PLAYER SHOW INDIVIDUAL IMPROVEMENT?
While two of the more competitive position groups are worth watching on Saturday, Payton also highlighted a big-picture goal for the game.
"Number 1 [is] cleaning up and [making] progress from mistakes that we've seen already," Payton said. "Are those getting cleaned up or is it Groundhog Day for some players? If that's the case, then we have a problem. Cleaning up some of the prior mistakes, the operation, and then just watching these guys perform at home."
When evaluating the Broncos' performance against the 49ers, Payton specifically noted offensive alignments and penalties as a pair of items to clean up. He also noted that the willingness to make corrections is an important part of the postgame process. As Denver builds its roster, finding players who are able to correct previous mistakes may be a prized quality.
