Examining Whether Broncos Rookie LB is Garnering 'Too Much Hype'
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Denver Broncos fans seem to be very excited about third-round linebacker Drew Sanders. The 6-foot-4 and 235-pound Arkansas linebacker arrived via the No. 67 pick, and quickly set the Mile High City abuzz.
It hasn't just been fans — Broncos head coach Sean Payton has publicly complimented Sanders, and one fellow rookie teammate gushed about the linebacker, calling him "unreal" and "unbelievable," after he made the play of rookie minicamp, picking off a Ben DiNucci pass and housing it during 7-on-7 drills.
It's fair to say that Sanders is riding a considerable hype wave, which brings us to the subject of today's article. Since rookie minicamp, a common question we get on the Mile High Huddle Podcast is whether the Sanders hype is "too much."
Is what's actually being said about Sanders, juxtaposed with his football resume and initial performance at rookie minicamp, fair? Nobody is crowning him as the next Al Wilson, although Broncos Country has long pined for a permanent, bonafide successor to the great 'Smoke Dog.'
Diving into Sanders' resume, it's worth mentioning that he was a five-star recruit to Alabama. After two years there, he transferred to Arkansas, where he produced 103 tackles, 13.5 tackles for a loss, 9.5 sacks, and an interception for the Razorbacks last year.
Sanders was widely viewed as the 2023 draft's top inside linebacker prospect, and many leading draftniks from the top national publications had him projected as a late-first-round pick or early second-rounder. Falling out of the first two rounds and into Denver's lap at No. 67 overall was a proverbial draft steal, and many of those same draftniks have said as much.
The Broncos haven't drafted a first-round inside linebacker since D.J. Williams in 2004, and the last one prior to him was Wilson in 1999. Wilson's All-Pro career was cut short due to a bad neck injury, while Williams would serve as a defensive lynchpin in Denver for nine seasons.
Believe it or not, Sanders joins Nate Irving (2011, pick 67) as the Broncos' highest-drafted linebacker since Williams. Irving played four years in Denver, but his last season was cut short due to a knee injury, and the Broncos subsequently opted not to re-sign him the next spring. He played one more year in the league in Indianapolis, and that was all she wrote.
Baron Browning was also a third-round pick two years ago, but there are two caveats: a.) he was taken at pick No. 105, and b.) he was moved to outside linebacker in Year 2.
Josey Jewell is the next highest-drafted linebacker as a 2018 fourth-round pick (106). He garnered a second contract in Denver and enters the 2023 campaign as an incumbent starter at inside linebacker. Jewell's development as a pro was a slow burn, though, interrupted at times by the injury bug, and he enters a contract year.
There are a few other late-round Broncos linebackers in recent years, including Lamin Barrow, Corey Nelson, Justin Strnad, and Keishawn Bierria, but none had a lasting impact. The best Broncos linebacker drafted since Williams, bar none, is 2012 sixth-rounder Danny Trevathan, who overcame a grievous knee injury to help lead the team to victory in Super Bowl 50, which also happened to be his contract year.
Fearing that the knee injury that cost him all of the 2014 season would come back to haunt him, Denver allowed Trevathan to depart to Chicago in 2016 free agency. He would play the next six years in Chicago, finishing his career there, but the Broncos' reluctance was prescient. Due to being oft-injured, Trevathan started 62-of-96 possible games in Chicago (meaning, he was out injured 35% of the time).
The Question at Hand: The Sanders Hype
Bringing it back to Sanders, considering that he is the highest-drafted Broncos linebacker in nearly two decades, it's understandable that fans would attach a fair amount of hype to him. Throw into that the 'should have been a first-rounder' label, and the fact that he made headlines in literally his first-ever minicamp as a Bronco, and the answer becomes clear.
No, the Sanders hype isn't "too much." In fact, it's on the money and should be viewed as a harbinger of what's to come for the kid in the Orange and Blue.
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