“The focus is bringing a world championship to this city.”
Those were the words of Denver Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders as he stood before Denver media on Monday after day one of the team’s first offseason workouts at team headquarters.
Wearing a t-shirt that read “Iron Sharpens Iron” from the familiar Proverb, Sanders’ expectations of this season for the Broncos along with those of his teammates and coaches are nothing short of achieving the pinnacle of the sport.
“That’s the focus of this group is to win a Super Bowl,” Sanders said. “That’s the expectation. If we don’t bring a Super Bowl to this group, this season is a bust.”
Only way to play the game! "@hochman: "World championship or bust." - @ESanders_10”
— Ed McCaffrey (@87ed) April 13, 2015
Sanders has officially set the tone for the Broncos this season, and he talked throughout the interview about a variety of topics, from his expectations all the way to how he feels about the development about his young teammates.
Oh yeah, and Demaryius Thomas…
“Demaryius isn’t here? I didn’t know,” Sanders said jokingly.
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He revealed that the team photo from the Duke workouts this offseason that included Thomas was done so to poke a little bit of fun at their friend and teammate, and that Peyton Manning had a little bit to do with that. Sanders said he realizes the business side of the game, but they wanted DT to know that they were thinking of him and that they’re excited to get him back.
For what it’s worth, he said DT is excited to get back as well, so hopefully something is going to get done sooner rather than later there.
With almost every conversation about Broncos wide receivers naturally comes a discussion about the progress of Cody Latimer, last season’s second round pick. Sanders was adamant that this is going to be a breakout year for the former Hoosiers star.
“On my Twitter I’m real vocal about Cody and that’s because I believe in Cody. I think this is going to be the year that he jumps onto the scene. I think he’s going to have a big year and I’m glad he’s on my team.”
Speaking of Latimer, he should see plenty of increased reps with Sanders’ revelation that he would be kicking inside to the slot receiver position in three-wide sets, now that Wes Welker is gone.
“When we go into our three-wide receiver package I’m going to go into the slot,” Sanders said.
So there you have it.
That said, Sanders also revealed that he has talked about his role with wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, and that he sees this offense being more of a balanced attack than a spread-style offense, with a little bit of what he called “Peyton’s offense” mixed in with head coach Gary Kubiak’s offensive looks.
The Broncos are going to be counting on Sanders in a big way, not just in terms of his play on the field but his ability to speak into the young players off of it. Sanders said he’s embraced more of a veteran leadership role this offseason, talking about how he has coached youngsters on lightening up and remembering that these guys are all playing a game they love for a good amount of money.
Sanders is such a vibrant personality and a phenomenal presence for this team on and off the field. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him voted as a team captain this year with the way he carries himself.
Coming off of a Pro Bowl year, everybody is going to be on the edge of their seat waiting to see what this star Broncos receiver can do next.