Denver Broncos |
Height: 5-11 Weight:
180 Age: 31
Born: 3/17/1987 Bellville, TX
College: Southern Methodist
Experience: 9th season
High School: Bellville HS [TX]
The Perception:
As John
Elway and the Denver Broncos look to remove the unpleasant smell of last
season’s offensive production, Emmanuel Sanders will again receive his
opportunity to become an extremely high contributor. The cliché is always the
same when discussing players that’ve had an off-year, suggesting they have lost
a step and/or they aren’t the player they once were. Emmanuel Sanders is
floating in that same territory of discussion whenever the Denver Broncos
offense is brought up in conversations with colleagues regrading current year
perceptions. We for one aren’t buying into that observation and see Sanders as
a prime candidate to rebound in 2018.
Last season
was one of the worst campaigns witnessed for Sanders since his days in
Pittsburgh (2010-2012) where he played a complementary role to Mike Wallace and
Antonio Brown being the third or fourth receiving option on the team. While
Sanders has proven his worth many times over since signing with the Broncos
back in 2014, some will continue to argue that his great statistical
performances were in direct correlation in playing with the future hall of
famer in Peyton Manning. Recognizing that it’s impossible to deny that Manning
did in fact lift Sanders to career highs in literally every receiving category,
Emmanuel was able to add credence to his craft going over 1000 yards with 79
receptions in the 2016 season post Peyton Manning, quite the successful year if
you ask me.
Last season
started with great hope and finished in utter demise as the Broncos couldn’t
seem to figure out the opposition on a weekly basis. Feeling the effects of
underwhelming quarterback play, Emmanuel Sanders was the unfortunate recipient
of virtually career low statistics and injury inflictions. Over the course of
his career, Sanders has remained relatively healthy missing only thirteen
contests in eight years, four of which came from last season. With the tribulation
that came to pass, Sanders finished the 2017 season with 47 receptions for 555
yards and 2 touchdowns in 12 games played - a far cry from great numbers just
two seasons removed. Some evaluators will base their next year projections
solely on statistics unfairly devaluing a player that still has good ability to
produce on the field. Adding to those perceptions, Sanders has always fought
the argument of size and weight being an issue, while adding a potential of
injury concerns to his resume doesn’t bode well for the overall outcome from
the masses. Are we beginning to see a trend to how Sanders is publicly viewed,
outside of Denver that is.
The Reality:
As the
offseason took shape, John Elway tried his best to recruit Kirk Cousins to the
Mile High city using a similar formula when persuading the great Peyton Manning
to join the club, this time without the same outcome. Perhaps a blessing in
disguise came from their unfulfilled pursuit of Cousins, as the Broncos landed
NFL journeyman quarterback Case Keenum to steer the ship at a much lower price.
By all accounts we aren’t placing Keenum in the same conversation as Cousins
for the upcoming season, but the overall skillset that seems to be active in
Case, as he matures, could become quite the bargain if the team finds their way
to the post season. While the Vikings were forced to lean on Keenum when Sam
Bradford went down, the Broncos will have an entire training camp to install
new systems allowing Sanders and company to gain chemistry aiding in the
correction of last year’s anemic pass game.
Like any
squad looking to be dominant in specific facet of the game, Denver’s
offensive line remains their achilles heel, but Keenum along with a solid run
attack should create opportunities for Emmanuel to get open via play action and
designed receiver screen plays which worked to perfection with Peyton Manning. A
statistic that gives favor in projecting potential success for the Broncos comes
to form with Case Keenum’s accuracy from last season (67.6%). If that mark can
be replicated or improved upon, Sanders should be able to enhance his catch
rate which stands at a modest 58% career average, only inflating his numbers
further. While Emmanuel saw his completion rate fall to the lowest levels of
his career last season, it’s our contention that all the blame wasn’t solely on
his hands (pun intended). Though Sanders has struggled with dropped passes from
time to time, far too often last season passes were off target making it
extremely difficult to catch, dropping his catch rate in the process.
Entering his
ninth season in the NFL at the ripe age of 31 years, Sanders has a great
opportunity to showcase those productive levels as no real indication of speed
or acceleration decline was witnessed. The struggles from a revolving door of
quarterbacks (Siemian, Osweiler, and Lynch) last season, was the obvious
conclusion leaving Sanders in a dim light among those providing endorsements
for the upcoming campaign. ADF will stand firm in our belief that Sanders will
find a way to overcome back to levels we’ve grown accustomed too.
The Outlook:
While the
Denver Broncos look to regain the success they’ve had in past seasons, Emmanuel
Sanders will have to be an enormous part of bringing them back to life. As the
Broncos still employ a defense that could rival the best in the league, that assistance
should provide ample opportunity for the offense to get the ball in their hands
during the course of a game. In the last five seasons, Sanders has piled up a
whopping 619 targets averaging a very healthy 123.8 targets per year. It’s extremely
clear that last season was the anomaly as spotty quarterback play limited this
target machine to fewer than 100 targets (92) for the first time since 2012.
While we reserve the right to adjust our assessment on Case Keenum as the
season progresses, there’s nothing to suggest the Broncos won’t get back on
track to at least be very competitive in the upcoming campaign, with Sanders
being a large part of that success.
From the
fantasy football perspective, Sanders didn’t generate great numbers finishing
2017 ranked as the 60th best wide receiver in the league in PPR (Point
Per Reception) formats. Emmanuel found his way to lower than average tallies
garnering 114.5 fantasy
points with an average of 9.5
points per game, definitely lower than what the expectations normally is. Based
on these numbers, the reactive nature of the fantasy community has sunken
Emmanuel in regards to his 2018 ADP (Average Draft Position). Currently, Sanders
holds an ADP hovering into the 90’s while seeing his worst draft selection
being had into the 130’s, from the outside looking in, Sanders has become quite
the afterthought. ADF sees the opportunity for fantastic value for any fantasy
owner looking to get a bargain while securing a potential higher end producer anywhere
from the 7th to 10th rounds of your draft. It’s not out
of the realm of possibilities to witness Sanders climb back to relevance collecting
65-75 receptions for 1000-1100 yards and 5-8 touchdowns for the 2018 season. If
this prediction indeed follows suit, Sanders could become the largest value
player at the receiver position in this year’s draft, ADF has no issue endorsing
Sanders at his current ADP.
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