After many questions in his first two seasons, the Denver Broncos have seemingly settled on where Drew Sanders will play in 2025. Head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton shared insight at the NFL Combine on Tuesday into where the soon-to-be third-year linebacker will play this season.

Denver Broncos will play Drew Sanders at inside linebacker going forward

When the Denver Broncos initially drafted Drew Sanders in the 2023 NFL Draft, Sean Payton said the vision for Sanders was as a pressure player. Previously, Sanders had played edge rusher while at Alabama before he transitioned to off-ball linebacker at Arkansas where he racked up nine sacks from the inside.

When he was drafted, Sanders played primarily at off-ball linebacker in the preseason and early on in 2023 before the team moved him to outside linebacker to help fill out some of the depth at the position after the team moved on from veterans Frank Clark and Randy Gregory. Jonathon Cooper, Nik Bonitto, and Baron Browning were the three stable pieces off the edge, and Sanders became the fourth rusher.

In April of last year, Sanders suffered a torn Achilles prior to the NFL Draft, which initially sidelined him indefinitely. The Broncos drafted Jonah Elliss with their third-round pick. Elliss went on to impress during his rookie season.

With Dondrea Tillman also being a player the team grew fond of at edge rusher, Sanders eventually moved back to off-ball linebacker late in the season after he made his return from the Achilles injury.

As the team prepares for 2025, Payton revealed that Sanders would be an inside linebacker going forward.

“Right now, inside—we are talking about [LB] Drew [Sanders]—and last year we went into the offseason with the EDGE idea,” Payton said. “Then we have progressed enough to where he is going to work inside. It’s how the season finished, too. We are going to keep him right there.”

General manager George Paton mentioned that he believes Sanders can be a starting inside backer in this league.

“We think [LB Drew] Sanders can be a starter in this league at linebacker,” Paton said. “Now let’s see how it goes. We’re going to keep adding good players. Competition—we just want competition at all of the positions. We’re not anointing anyone starters, but we just want to keep bringing in competition and we’ll get good results.”

This was one of the biggest questions surrounding the Denver Broncos current roster going into the offseason, and now it’s been answered.