Mile High Report
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve highlighted prospect to watch for the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft. With the college football season in full swing and hitting Week 11, let’s go back to that for Future Broncos.
I’ve been doing my best to target players from each position and there are a few groups I’ve been light on. Without further ado, here are three prospects to watch for Week 11 of the College Football season.
T.J. Sanders, Defensive Lineman — South Carolina Gamecocks
One area the Broncos’ defense has improved this season is their play in the trenches. Zach Allen, D.J. Jones, and John Franklin-Myers have been a formidable starting trio. The addition of Malcolm Roach has helped too—especially in run defense. Surprisingly enough, Roach is seeing just about as many snaps as Jones and Franklin-Myers. Fifth in line would be defensive end Jordan Jackson who is getting just over 30-percent of the snaps.
Even with the improved play in the trenches, the Broncos would be wise to consider adding to that group in the 2025 NFL Draft. It’s a unit where they significantly lack prospects on rookie contracts. Given such, defensive line is one of the position groups I’d like to see Denver consider investing a Top 100 selection.
One player who has caught my eye recently is T.J. Sanders of South Carolin. I’ve seen him deployed most often as a disruptive three technique on the interior of their alignment. However, I think he could even play outside in Vance Joseph’s defensive front.
At 6’4” and 290 pounds, Sanders is an impressive athlete for his size that plays with a non-stop motor. He has great initial quickness off the snap and is a slippery defender when shooting gaps. Sanders broke out last season as a junior with 43 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss. This season he is already at 30 tackles and 3 sacks— so there is a good chance he surpasses last year’s production.
I’d like to see him add more strength to play with a better anchor against the run and diversify his pass rush moves (too reliant on the swim move), but his length and twitchy athleticism earn him plus marks on his scouting report. I was really impressed with how he played last week against Texas A&M and his Georgia film from 2023 was even more impressive.
If he continues to impress down the stretch, I wouldn’t be surprised if some teams view him as a potential first-round selection. Based off his past two seasons, I think it’s safe to say he’s a lock for the Top 64. You can catch him against Vanderbilt this afternoon.
Xavier Watts, Safety — Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Broncos completely revamped the backend of their secondary and brought in Brandon Jones to take over for longtime stalwart Justin Simmons. P.J. Locke took over the other starting spot, but fans witnessed the significant drop off with him out of the lineup and Devon Key seeing significant...
