The Denver Broncos had three inside linebackers who played significantly on defense last season: Alex Singleton, Justin Strnad and Dre Greenlaw. Only Greenlaw was under contract for the Broncos for the 2026 season, but they re-signed Strnad to a three year deal worth $18MM. They also appear to be attempting to resign Singleton.

Singleton played 1089 defensive snaps, Strand 575, Greenlaw 324. Levelle Bailey, Jordan Turner, Karene Reid and Garrett Wallow combined for 38.

So let’s see how our three main ILB played in 2025. Greenlaw was 17th of 145 in missed tackle % at 2.3% (1 missed tackle on 44 tackle attempts). Strnad was 68th and Singleton was 86th at 6.5% and 8.2%. Singleton was better than has been in previous seasons when he had one of the worst missed tackle rates among off-the-ball LBs. Alex had a missed tackle rate of 11.3% in 2024.

Singleton also had many instances where he never got a chance to miss the tackle because he misread the play and ended up far enough away from the runner as to not even be credited with a missed tackle. This was largely on display in the playoff win over the Bills when he was only tagged with one missed tackle, but he had plenty of misplays where he should have been in the hole to make a tackle.

In terms of tackles for loss, Singleton had 3 which was tied for 11th on the defense. That’s a sad statement for a guy who played 91.5% of the defensive snaps for the Broncos. He did have one forced fumble though. Ja’Quan McMillian, who is a DB, and Eyioma Uwazurike, who is a backup DT, both had two more TFLs than Singleton.

Bronco TFLs 2025 (4 or more)
Nik Bonitto – 14
Jonathon Cooper – 8
John Franklin-Myers – 6
Talanoa Hufanga – 6
Eyioma Uwazurike – 5
Ja’Quan McMillian – 5
Jonah Elliss – 5
Justin Strnad -5
D.J. Jones – 4
Zach Allen – 4

It’s interesting that Zach Allen only had four TFL. So maybe Singleton’s 3 wasn’t so bad? Admittedly, Allen only played 797 snaps on D. Elliss’ five is really impressive given that he only played 318 defensive snaps.

So whether you think Singleton is an average run defender or a below average run defender, there is no doubt that he was poor in coverage. For defenders with a minimum of 10 targets in coverage his 9.8 yards allowed per target was the 4th worst in the NFL among LBs. Only Oren Burks (11.0) , Shemar James (10.8) and Tyrice Knight (10.8) were worse.

Singleton’s four passes defended on 31 targets (13%) was decent, but nothing to write home about. On the flipside Justin Strnad was one of the better coverage linebackers in 2025. His 4.4 yards per target was near the top and his 3 passes defended on 12 targets is pretty impressive. He also had a beautiful interception.

Getting an ILB in free agency (or the draft) who is not a liablity in coverage or against the run and who has a history of staying healthy, should be a priority for the Broncos. Singleton was the weakest link on the defense last season and that weakness was exploited in the games where the defense gave up plenty of yards and points. There are a number of good ILBs available in free agency but most of them are 30 or older and many are injury risks. Of the ILBs who played 50% of the snaps or more last season, there are only 6 available who are under the age of 30: Quay Walker (26), Kenneth Murray (28), Devin Bush (28), Devin Lloyd (28), Devin White (28), and Christian Rozeboom (29).

Of course just because you are over 30 doesn’t mean you are immediately terrible as an ILB. Bobby Wagner was 36 last season and 2025 was the first time since 2013 that he didn’t make first or second team AllPro. The two guys who made first team AllPro for 2025 were Jordyn Brooks and Jack Campbell. Both were elite as run stoppers and in coverage. They were also effective when they were asked to rush the passer.

SISdatahub.com has a stat for broken and missed tackles allowed by a LB. Singleton looks better in this metric as his 14.6% is middle of the pack. Guys with a Pass Snap/Run Snap ratio of 1.0 or higher were three down LBs. Below 1.0 you were a two down (run-stuffer) LB. The SIS data doesn’t differentiate between OLBs and ILBs so that is why Jonah Elliss, Dondrea Tillman, Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto show up on this table.

I don’t know what the Broncos are going to do at ILB, but I would prefer that they don’t resign the 33 year old Alex Singleton, unless it is on a vet minimum deal. Getting one of those free agents who had double digit TFLs would be nice.

What would you like the Broncos to do at ILB this off-season?