We’re over three months out from Week 1 of the 2024 NFL regular season, but there’s already an injury that will impact the roster of the Seattle Seahawks’ opening day opponent.
9NEWS Denver reporter Mike Klis reports that Denver Broncos linebacker Drew Sanders suffered a torn Achilles just prior to the NFL Draft. The injury is only now being disclosed, and Sanders has already undergone successful surgery. However, it’s an Achilles injury and even if Sanders returns this season, it won’t be in time for the Seahawks vs. Broncos game.
Sanders was a third-round pick out of Arkansas in the 2023 NFL Draft. He was drafted to be an off-ball linebacker, but that already seemingly ran its course. Mile High Report has a better synopsis of Sanders’ time in Denver and his planned move to edge rusher:
This is a tough break for Sanders who is coming off a pretty tough rookie season. He had a promising summer but he really struggled during the regular season. He looked lost out there and was eventually benched and moved to edge rusher. This offseason, general manager George Paton told reporters that Sanders would be moving to edge rusher and he needed a strong offseason to live up to the potential many thought he had when drafted. Now, he has a disappointing rookie season and will miss most, if not all, of his second season in the NFL with a serious injury. It’s a pretty rough spot for Sanders who could be on the roster bubble in 2025 when he fully recovers from this Achilles injury.
In his rookie campaign, Sanders played in all 17 games and made four starts, but he was limited to 258 defensive snaps compared to 297 special teams snaps. It looks as if Sanders’ already uphill battle for playing time just got a lot more difficult with his unfortunate setback.
Not coincidentally, the Broncos did draft Utah edge rusher Jonah Elliss in the third round, which looks clearer in hindsight with this Sanders information.
