When Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton said in the spring that the team would have a backup quarterback competition between Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger, most fans and analysts didn’t necessarily believe him.

Stidham, after all, has served as the Broncos’ backup quarterback for the last three seasons, and he started for Denver in the AFC Championship game last season after Bo Nix was ruled out with an ankle injury.

Ehlinger, meanwhile, was the Broncos’ No. 3 quarterback last season after spending the first four seasons of his career with the Indianapolis Colts.

“We see competition,” said Payton in March of the backup quarterback battle. “And it wasn’t different last year. There’s nothing that is etched in stone. There just isn’t, and that’s a good thing.”

Stidham has received most of the second-team reps this offseason, but that changed last weekend when Ehlinger ran with the second team.

Now, that doesn’t mean that Ehlinger is moving ahead of Stidham on the depth chart, but it’s at least evidence that Payton was serious about the competition.

Preseason games will obviously go a long way in determining whether Ehlinger has a legitimate shot to unseat Stidham for the backup quarterback job.

Ultimately, though, I don’t think the depth chart order is Payton’s main goal with this competition. I think he saw last season in the playoffs how quickly the whole season can come down to the play of the backup quarterback. And I don’t think he wants either player to be complacent with their position on the depth chart. Competition brings out the best in players, and the lack of competition can cause complacency.

That’s why I think the backup quarterback battle is mainly a tool to strengthen the backup quarterback position, regardless of what order the depth chart says.

Payton is as detail-oriented as anyone in the NFL, so it’s no surprise he’s making sure his backup quarterbacks are competing with the same intensity during training camp as if the starting job were on the line.