Emmanuel Sanders: Everything the Denver Broncos Wanted in a Wide Receiver

The Denver Broncos were one of the most active teams in free agency earlier this year. One of the biggest moves the team made was adding wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. The veteran was so excited to sign with the Broncos that he called Denver “wide receiver heaven” at his first press conference at Dove Valley.

The team decided to let Eric Decker go in free agency. His replacement is Sanders, and that’s a large role to fill considering that Decker hauled in 87 catches, 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2013. The two are different receivers, and Sanders will be asked to do things Decker could not do.

Let’s take a look at how Sanders got to this point and why he’s everything the team wanted in a starting wide receiver.

College Career

Dean Hare/Associated Press

Sanders was a productive receiver at SMU. Over his four-year college career, Sanders caught 285 passes for 3,791 yards and 34 touchdowns. His speed and quickness were great assets for the June Jones offense, and he also starred as a return man as well.

Sanders showed the ability to take the top off the defense in college. He was so fast that he could outrun even those defenders who took proper angles when attempting to tackle him. This made Sanders a threat to score any time he touched the football.

Even though he’s not the biggest player, Sanders was fearless when running routes over the middle. He was not concerned with his personal safety and would bring down tough catches in traffic. Sanders showed great confidence in his natural ability, and he was tough to get a bead on—or bring down—after the catch.

During his senior season of 2009, Sanders had six 100-yard receiving games. He finished the season with 98 catches for 1,339 yards and nine touchdowns.

After his college career was done, Sanders attended the 2010 East-West Shrine Game in Orlando, FL. I watched Sanders during that week of practice in Orlando, and his speed immediately jumped out. He was arguably the fastest player at that game, and Sanders showed incredible ability to beat one-on-one coverage.

His performance at the Shrine Game certainly helped elevate his draft status.

Steelers Career

Don Wright/Associated Press

In the third round of the 2010 NFL draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to add Sanders to the roster. The team already had receivers like Mike Wallace and Hines Ward, but they were looking to build depth and add a future starter with the selection of Sanders.

As a rookie, Sanders was targeted 49 times, caught 28 passes for 376 yards and two touchdowns. Respectable numbers for a rookie, especially because he missed three games in 2010.

Foot injuries prevented Sanders from playing a full season in 2011. In 11 games, Sanders was targeted 51 times, caught 22 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns. This was most certainly a step back for the young receiver.

In 2012, Sanders played under a new offensive coordinator for the Steelers. Bruce Arians moved on to be the offensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts, and the Steelers decided to replace him with Todd Haley.

The design of the offense was much different, and the Steelers failed to have a 1,000 yard receiver in 2012 after having two (Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown) the previous year. Sanders was targeted 75 times, caught 44 passes for 626 yards and one touchdown that season.

His final season with the Steelers, 2013, saw Sanders’ production slip. He was targeted 112 times, caught 67 passes for 740 yards and six touchdowns.

Overall, Sanders’ career in Pittsburgh had to be considered a disappointment. While other Steelers draft picks like Wallace and Brown had broken out as big playmakers in the NFL, Sanders struggled to stay healthy and struggled to fit in the Haley offense.

Broncos Career

Sanders started his Broncos career off with a bang. Over the first two games of the 2014 regular season, Sanders has gotten off to the best start of his NFL career.

Year	Team	Receptions	Receiving Yards	Touchdowns
2014	Denver Broncos	14	185	0
2013	Pittsburgh Steelers	12	135	0
2012	Pittsburgh Steelers	7	88	0

Decker was a great asset for the Broncos over the last two seasons, but Sanders has put up better stats over two games than Decker did to begin the 2013 season.

Year	Player	Receptions	Receiving Yards	Touchdowns
2014	Emmanuel Sanders	14	185	0
2013	Eric Decker	11	119	0

In order to beat more physical defenses, like a Seattle Seahawks or San Francisco 49ers, the Broncos must have a more vertical element to their offense. That’s where Sanders comes in.

His speed and ability to get into his routes quickly make him a great deep threat. Sanders does a good job of tracking passes over his shoulders, and he has a good closing burst to get to passes put out in front of him.

Sanders' speed, quickness and ball-tracking ability is superior to that of Decker. Replacing Decker with Sanders was more than a transaction, it signaled a new dimension to the Broncos offense.

"

the vertical element Sanders brings to #Broncos offense is amazing, can't believe so many doubted the addition initially

— Cecil Lammey (@cecillammey) September 14, 2014"

Sanders likes that he started off the game against the Chiefs with a catch. “It feels good to start the game off with a catch. Of course you get in a rhythm fast and then I hope it continues because I’m enjoying it.”

The team got off to a hot start in both Week 1 and Week 2. Sanders wants those fast beginnings to continue:

"

We just got to continue to start like that. It feels good to go down and score on the opening drive. It gives everyone confidence that we can seriously do it over and over and over again, but we’ve got to start finishing these ball games a lot better and that’s the thing we’re trying to focus on.

"

The new Broncos wideout has a good outlook on the season, and he understands the tests they’ll have to go through in 2014:

"

I always try to find every positive about everything. I guess God’s just trying to build character within this team for the long haul, for the long journey because this is a Super Bowl or bust team. We want to be hoisting that Lombardi Trophy so I guess he’s molding us to be the team we need to be.

"

Even though the team is 2-0, Sanders knows they have things to work on:

"

Every game there are positives and there are negatives and what you do is try to continue the positives and try to work on the negatives, and I think on both sides of the ball we have some improving to do and I think that we’re going to do that. We’ve got a great coaching staff and great players that are very coachable and they want to win so we’re more than capable of correcting those things.

"

Sanders likes the mentality of the team and is impressed with the willingness on both sides of the ball to work through struggles:

"

It’s not tough. You’ve got to have mental toughness to play in the National Football League. I think we’ve got guys that do that. I was walking up and down the sideline saying, ‘No matter what happens, we’ve got to go out and score’ because at the end of the day, it’s not about the Kansas City Chiefs and what our defense do...We’re in control of what we can control and that’s going down and scoring points.

"

The league’s most dangerous passing game could get even better, according to Sanders: “I think so. I think we’ve got a lot of weapons. We’re still not happy about putting up 24 points. I feel like we’ve got a potent offense that can continuously do better, and I think that we will.”

Summary

We should see Sanders continue to set career-best numbers in 2014. He’s already had his first 100-yard receiving game, and if he continues to produce then he could post the first 1,000-yard season of his five-year pro career.

Sanders has worked hard to become a favorite target of Peyton Manning. That hard work has payed off with better timing and chemistry than some expected. Sanders has proven in two games that he can be relied on in critical situations.

He’s never been a red-zone threat, and Sanders has only 11 career receiving touchdowns. He may not match that number this year, but Sanders could get close. It’s not out of the question to think that Sanders could haul in seven to nine touchdowns in 2014.

Sanders is everything the Broncos want in a wide receiver, and his addition has certainly had early payoffs. It’s scary to think the best may be yet to come.

All quotes and injury/practice observations obtained firsthand. Record/statistical information provided via email from the Denver Broncos unless otherwise noted. College stats provided by CFBStats.com or Sports-Reference.com.