The Denver Broncos had one of the NFL's best and most exciting defenses last year. The team led the NFL in sacks while setting a franchise record, had several defensive scores, was the number one defense in football for some time, and led Denver to its first playoff berth since 2015.
The unit's incredible play netted Vance Joseph multiple head coaching interviews. Denver defensive staffers were poached, some key pieces left for richer deals elsewhere, and Pat Surtain brought home the honor of Defensive Player of the Year. Despite all of this good, there was one major question mark for Denver's defensive unit: the inside linebacker position.
Broncos dooming themselves to repeat recent history at linebacker?
Denver's inside backer spot was a question mark heading into the year, and the questions only continued to grow as the season progressed. Alex Singleton blew out his knee, Levelle Bailey didn't exactly live up to some hopes, and the dreams of a playoff push landed on the shoulders of Cody Barton and Justin Strnad. Both performed well at first, but Denver's weak spot became mainstream as Strnad was picked on in Denver's blowout AFC Wild Card loss in Buffalo. After the loss, it was clear that Denver had an inside linebacker issue that will need to be addressed if the team wants to overtake the Chiefs this year atop the AFC West.
Denver entered their offseason with inside backer as a major need, and definitely addressed the issue by bringing in former 49er Dre Greenlaw and resigning Strnad, two moves to add depth and talent to the position. However, Greenlaw is a walking injury concern who took minimal time to give Denver fans their first heart attack of the 2025 season, with a poorly reported quad injury. To this group, Denver also has former Oklahoma standout Drew Sanders, who has missed most of his professional career so far with a knee injury and minimal playing time.
Denver is currently slated to start Greenlaw, the returning Singleton, who is coming off ACL surgery, and have Strnad, Sanders, Bailey, and undrafted free agent KJ Cloyd. The position has reshaped a bit, but three of the top four on the depth chart have had some form of major knee surgery in the last two seasons, and the one who did not was exposed at the back-end of the year for being a below-average player.
If the position group can remain healthy for Denver, it has a chance to be football's best and deepest inside backer group. If the injuries start to pile up again, Denver could be looking for new depth very quickly, which would be a bad sign for the Broncos.