The third preseason game is typically considered the dress rehearsal for the season, but with a total of 37 player cuts needing to be made within seven days, Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak had plenty of game-action evaluation to do on Saturday night against San Francisco.

The Broncos have an exceptional wide receiver tandem in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, but who will fill the slot role still appeared up in the air as Cody Latimer, Andre Caldwell and Jordan Norwood all saw significant action against the 49ers. Later in the game, Jordan Taylor made his presence felt, pulling in four catches and garnering a pass interference call that yielded the eventual game-winning touchdown.

At running back, it appears Ronnie Hillman has firmly supplanted Montee Ball as the No. 2 back and may be taking aim at C.J. Anderson, who improved on his numbers from earlier in the preseason, but was not looking yet back to his Pro Bowl form from late in 2014 with his 13 carries Saturday. Ball meanwhile earned only four carries on the night, the same number as Juwan Thompson; Ball averaged just 2.8 yards per carry, but did have an impressive catch and run. Hillman continued to impress, averaging 7.0 yards per carry on just five touches.

Gary Kubiak will have some tough cuts to make at wide receiver and running back in the coming week. The MHS team was active during the game, providing their insight and analysis on the position battles and who might be cleaning out a locker come Sept. 5 when final rosters are cut down to 53.

Here are the highlights from the in-game commentary from the MHS team…