Broncos LB Alex Singleton on Rookie Drew Sanders: 'He's a Freak'

It's evident the Denver Broncos are picking up Vance Joseph's new defense. The defense has really been flying to the ball, and as starting linebacker Alex Singleton told reporters on Thursday, picking up Joseph's scheme has been seamless.

“It's been great. I think Vance is one of the best coaches I’ve had strictly from that,” Singleton said. “It wasn't just, ‘Hey, we're going to run my system and you guys have to learn all our terminology’ because with Josey and Justin [Strnad] and those guys, they had Vance when he was the head coach. So some of it was there. And then, obviously, with Vic [Fangio], it's all kind of the same. But so much of the terminology would be so different. And so he was able to, you know, take some of what they did before. ‘Coach E’ [Ejiro Evero] was able to do the same thing. And now with Vance coming back, it's kind of all molded into one, and it's been a really smooth transition.”

Positive vibes abounded on the defensive side of the ball, at least until the unfortunate news of linebacker Jonas Griffith's season-ending ACL tear. That hit serves as an early setback, but Singleton is savvy enough to understand that the entire unit has to push through adversity.

“The last two days have been the only days that guys have been able to step up, but guys have been," Singleton said of the linebackers. "And guys are playing fast. Guys are taking bigger roles quicker, which is good for guys. And it'll develop guys faster. Like I said earlier, it's good to do it now during camp. And let guys develop and find those roles without getting forced into them during the season.”

A contingency plan will now likely see rookie third-round rookie Drew Sanders take more responsibilities on his young shoulders. Clearly, the Broncos are high on Sanders' flexible skill set, and after seeing him close up, Singleton is stoked on what the former Arkansas Razorback adds to the mix

“The learning curve is tough in the NFL but he's a freak. He's got the size, he's strong, he's fast, he's physical and so it just takes time,” Singleton said of Sanders. “I think with how much offenses do now with all the motions, shifts, different formations, and all the different rules, linebackers have to learn so many different things, and a lot of colleges only run a couple plays. So to come in and have to learn all that, it's tough to digest. But he's doing it. And, yeah, he should be really good.”

Drafting Sanders is making GM George Paton look like a particularly shrewd operator, as does the move to bring back both Singleton and his tackling partner in crime Josey Jewell successive offseasons. In light of Griffith's absence, and with Sanders still learning the finer points of being a pro, the veteran duo will continue to carry the load, and Singleton knows what makes them click so well together.

“It's huge. We kind of had chemistry without playing at all together and just kind of stepping into games and figuring it out," Singleton said of Jewell. "And so to have all OTAs and now all camp, I think it’s the best pairing I've ever had. So it works really well together and every day we just keep getting better.”

Running it back with Singleton and Jewell as the Broncos' starting linebacker duo will obviously hold a major key to how the defense performs in 2023, especially when the live bullets start flying, but the early returns are positive so far.