“He’s looked like that since his senior year in high school,” said wide receiver Marvin Mims, a fellow rookie who played against Sanders in the semifinals of the Texas High School playoffs in 2019. But Sanders has looked good during his first few days in a Broncos practice uniform. This is not the time for sweeping declarations. The bulk of the players on the field Saturday likely won’t make their way onto active NFL rosters this season. “It was a good play by Drew, a good break,” Payton said of Sanders’ interception, which came during a 7-on-7 drill and happened right in front of team co-owner and CEO Greg Penner. Sanders later ranged to his right to stuff a run play near the line of scrimmage, then sprinted from behind a play to break up a short curl route. So did his sideline-to-sideline range - on display when he broke on a short out route from quarterback Ben DiNucci and intercepted the ball for what would have been a pick-six. At 6-foot-5 and 233 pounds, Sanders’ length and range from the inside linebacker spot jump out right away. None of those players stood out more than Sanders, the linebacker out of Arkansas whom the Broncos selected with the No.
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That included Denver’s five draft picks, 15 undrafted free agents, a handful of players already on the roster who haven’t yet accrued a year of league experience and rookie and veteran tryout players. The Broncos listed 57 players on the minicamp attendance sheet. Here are more observations from Saturday’s minicamp practice, the second of three sessions and the only one open for media viewing: Rookie linebacker Drew Sanders looks the part There has not been an additional veteran signing at the position since the draft ended, though Denver did sign two undrafted free agents, Jaleel McLaughlin and Emanuel Wilson. They signed former Bengals back Samaje Perine in free agency - a player Payton said Saturday “can be an every-down back” - but they did not use any of their five draft picks on a running back.
But the Broncos’ moves at the running back position this offseason could be viewed as another reason to be optimistic Williams will be ready for the start of the season. The (late July) start of training camp is still more than two months away and there are benchmarks for Williams, who had 1,219 total yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie in 2021, to hit in his recovery. At the time, Paton said it was still too early to know whether Williams could return for the start of the season.
And it would be a quicker return than general manager George Paton seemed to suggest when asked about Williams at the league meetings in Arizona in March. Being ready for the start of training camp would represent a relatively rapid recovery for Williams, whose absence was felt significantly by Denver’s league-worst offense last season. Williams, a second-round pick in 2021, suffered an ACL tear in Week 4 against the Raiders last season and sustained other damage in the knee as well.
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