One of the Broncos’ rising defenders will miss a significant chunk of the 2024 campaign.According to Mike Klis of 9News in Denver, linebackerDrew Sanders suffered a torn Achilles.

The injury occurred back in April during Denver’s offseason program. Sanders later underwent surgery that was deemed successful. Wilson notes that there’s some hope that Sanders could return late in the 2024 campaign, but there’s also a chance the defender misses his entire sophomore season.

The Arkansas product was selected in the third round of last year’s draft and got into all 17 games as a rookie. While the Broncos initially had him lined up at inside linebacker, Sanders ended up transitioning to the edge towards the end of the season. He finished the campaign with 24 tackles while garnering four starts.

Towards the end of last season, Sanders was soaking up leftover snaps behindJonathon Cooper andBaron Browning, and that was likely going to be the arrangement heading into 2024. The team does still have 2022 second-round pickNik Bonitto hanging around, and Wilson notes that Sanders’ injury may have influenced the team’s decision to select outside linebackerJonah Elliss in the third round. The Utah product was ultimately the team’s second pick, behind first-round quarterbackBo Nix.