Denver Broncos HC Sean Payton gives initial feedback on a player the fan base has been waiting to see for years now
The Denver Broncos have drafted well over the last few years, but they haven’t gotten the best return on investment due to injuries.
The Denver Broncos have drafted well over the last few years, but they haven’t gotten the best return on investment due to injuries. One of those players is undoubtedly linebacker Drew Sanders.
He’s played 21 career games, started four, in three seasons. And yet, he wasn’t ever fully healthy, really. It feels like there’s always been something, and we know that the talent is there—he showed untapped potential at Arkansas before being drafted in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Now, he may finally be pretty healthy after a training camp injury finished his 2025 season before it even started.
Broncos HC Sean Payton talks Drew Sanders at Mandatory Minicamp
“He’s doing well out here playing an edge position,” Sean Payton told reporters on Wednesday. “He’s instinctive. [Sanders] is at one of those positions [where] it’s hard to evaluate with what we’re doing right now. He can get the alignment, the assignment, all of that.
“There’s a young player that, knock on wood, we feel like is really talented, and stay healthy and really get a good… This is one of the offseasons he’s coming into this portion of training camp healthy, so I’m encouraged with that.”
Sanders has played just 656 total snaps in his three-year career. In those snaps, he’s managed 32 total tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, and one fumble recovery. The numbers don’t look great, but everyone knows the potential that’s there. In 2024, in just four games, he had a PFF pass-rush grade of 70 overall, which isn’t terrible.
At Arkansas, he played linebacker, where he was on the ball and often sent on blitzes. In the NFL, it’s clear the Broncos see him as a guy on the edge, not really on the ball. But with his physical ability and versatility, he can be a good football player for this team in 2026. That is, of course, if he’s healthy.