Broncos need 2023 draft pick to work at inside linebacker

Drew Sanders had a quiet rookie season for the Denver Broncos. He played in all 17 games but made just four starts. He finished the season with 24 tackles and a fumble recovery. It wasn't a completely wasted season, but the Broncos still don't really know what they have. That, or they don't know how to use him.

Could it be that the Broncos don't know what to do with Sanders? It certainly seems that way after he saw less playing time than you would have expected last year and there has been talk that the team will move him to the outside in 2024. Or so, George Paton "thinks".

Let's hope that the general manager is wrong with that idea.

The Broncos have several outside linebackers to come off of the edge in Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper and Baron Browning, another guy who was moved from the inside spot. But it is the inside linebacker position where the Broncos need a playmaker, it is that spot where the team has had mediocre play for quite some time.

Josey Jewell and Alex Singleton made a formidable duo but neither of those guys is a superstar. Singleton and recent free-agent signing Cody Barton will likely form a similar combination. But it is Sanders, described by many as a freak athlete coming out of college, who the team needs to be a superstar at the position.

The Broncos don't need Sanders to get lost in the shuffle of situational pass-rushers. It's true that you can never have enough guys to send after the quarterback but when all of those guys possess similar traits, there are limits to that thought process.

The Broncos need Sanders to fly all over the field. They need him to make plays in the passing game, help shut down tight ends in coverage and even make a play on the quarterback from time to time. That's what he was supposed to be able to do. That's why the team drafted him with the No. 67 overall pick in 2023.

Was the Sanders pick a waste? So far, no. But if the team really moves him to the outside in 2024, hoping to get the most out of him, that conversation can start.