Mile High Report
The Broncos third year player Drew Sanders flirted at edge rusher last season before suffering an Achilles injury during the offseason. Now, Sean Payton has him moving back inside in what will be a make or break year for Drew Sanders.
Entering the 2024 offseason, one player with the most to gain was former third-round pick Drew Sanders. He had a disappointing rookie season and was being moved to edge rusher to take advantage of his athleticism. Unfortunately, an offseason achilles injury derailed the majority of his sophomore season and even though he did return, he missed out on some valuable reps and development. Now, he enters into what figures to be a make-or-break offseason with the Broncos and is once again, changing positions.
Head Coach Sean Payton met with the media on Tuesday at the Combine and was asked where Sanders would play moving forward. He told reporters that Sanders would move back inside, a position he played at the end of last season moving forward.
“Right now, inside—we are talking about Drew —and last year we went into the offseason with the EDGE idea. Then we have progressed enough to where he is going to work inside. It’s how the season finished, too. We are going to keep him right there.”
This is probably his natural and best position and he now will have his first full offseason to grow and develop into the player the Broncos thought he would be when they selected him in the third round. General Manager George Paton told reporters that they believe Sanders can be a starter in this league but he has to earn it because they’re going to add competition.
“We think Sanders can be a starter in this league at linebacker. Now let’s see how it goes. We’re going to keep adding good players. Competition—we just want competition at all of the positions. We’re not anointing anyone starters, but we just want to keep bringing in competition and we’ll get good results.”
The Broncos are expected to add to a linebacker room that struggled last season. Currently, a rehabbing Alex Singleton who is a potential cap cut, undrafted rookie Levelle Bailey, and Drew Sanders are the only linebackers under contract on the roster. That’s not great and all three players have more questions than answers when it comes to their future with the team. So, Sanders has an opportunity to carve out a role on the defensive side of the ball, but as Payton said, they’re going to be adding “good players” and competition to that room and they’re not anointing anyone starters just yet.
This is a bit of a make-or-break offseason for Sanders who could find himself on the roster bubble if the team adds multiple new players to the mix. He struggled his rookie year at linebacker, didn’t work out at edge rusher last season, and is now getting another shot at linebacker. If he struggles again, he could be in danger of being...
