For anyone who follows our content, Drew Sanders was our LB1 in the 2023 Draft and by a pretty hefty margin. We thought Sanders could start as a rookie, but he never quite beat out veteran Josey Jewell. That being said though the Broncos did let Jewell walk this year, and he landed with Carolina. Even though the Broncos added vet Cody Barton, we were still convinced that Sanders would’ve ended up the 2024 starter next to Alex Singleton.

Despite being the #3 in ILB rotation in 2023, Sanders still had 4 starts and played 253 defensive snaps, which equates to about 23% of their defense’s total. In those snaps, Sanders totaled 24 tackles, 1 TFL, and a fumble recovery. 

One of our favorite traits about Sanders was that he could play inside and outside at a high level, and the Broncos took advantage of that versatility in 2023. Payton talked about Sanders amongst the OLBs, but with the departure of Jewell and drafting Elliss, we assume Sanders would’ve stayed at ILB. 

The 2023 3rd Round pick will now miss most, if not the entire 2024 season. It is unclear when the actual injury occurred with reports just saying “during the team’s offseason program in Mid-April”. Sanders already had surgery to repair his achilles and his recovery time is between six and nine months, so whether he returns in 2024 is entirely based on how his recovery goes. Broncos fans and the rest of the football community are going to have to wait some more to see this young, explosive defensive playmaker.