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After the Broncos didn’t resign AJ Johnson it left a hole in who will start along side Josey Jewell. Who will win the position battle and be the guy to step up?
Alex Singleton committed to play football for Montana State in 2011 then redshirted his freshman year. Singleton saw his first snaps with the Bobcats in 2012 when he had 40 tackles and one interception that year. In 2013 Singleton saw his breakout year for the Bobcats, he finished with 110 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and three interceptions. After the amazing tackle numbers in 2013, Singleton somehow increased his tackles even more getting 136 tackles and two sacks in 2014.
#49 Alex Singleton
6’2” 240 Ibs
College: Montana State
After entering the 2015 NFL draft Alex Singleton went undrafted but then got signed to the Seattle Seahawks. Singleton then would be signed and cut by the New England Patriots and the Minnesota Vikings.
After bouncing around practice squads in 2015 Singleton decided to enter the 2016 CFL draft where he was selected sixth overall by the Calgary Stampeders and immediately saw success for the Stampeders and quickly became an important player on their defense. In Singleton’s second year in the CFL, he was named the Stampeders nominee for the most outstanding defensive player awards, Singleton then swept all the votes in the defensive and Canadian player categories. Singleton also broke the Stampeders record for most tackles in a season having 121 tackles in 2017.
Singleton in 2018 didn’t skip a beat he had 123 tackles and was then named to the CFL All-Star team then Singleton would be released in 2019 to pursue the NFL
Singleton then signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019, he was waived during final roster cuts the signed to the practice squad. He was eventually called up to the main roster and played in 10 games. In 2020, Singleton recorded his first NFL interception and returned it for a touchdown and by week six of that season, Singleton was the Eagles’ official starting linebacker. In 2020 Singleton led the Eagles in tackles with 120 tackles that season. Heading into the 2021 season Singleton was voted by his teammates to be the captain of the Eagles. Singleton only missed one game for the Eagles, they did not play their starters, and still once again led the Eagles in tackles with an even more impressive 137 tackles, the 20th most in the NFL.
Following the 2021 season, the Eagles chose not to resign Singleton making him a free agent where in March 2022 he signed a one-year deal with the Denver Broncos.
Singleton is a good athlete he has one of the higher relative athletic scores (RAS) in the inside linebacker room for the Broncos. His production as well is very amazing having 257 tackles in only two seasons with the Eagles. While being scouted for the CFL draft Singleton was the consensus top linebacker in the class according to scouts. He can read a play very well and fly to the ball, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said this about Singleton, “He is a very instinctual player and you can just tell he has a natural feel and he reads and diagnoses and does it all pretty fast and more often than not, he ends up exactly where he needs to be, last year, he did a good job of not only getting to the right spot but finishing a lot of those plays.”
The one thing that hurts Singleton is his pass rush, Singleton has not been very involved in the pass rush Singleton has a total of six sacks in his professional career. Singleton tends to drop back into coverage a lot more in his professional career he has three interceptions, two of them he turned into touchdowns, and five passes defended.
Singleton has dealt with a lot of adversity in his career from bouncing around practice squads and then deciding to go to the CFL and coming back to the NFL just to be put on the practice squad one more time before making a name for himself and then was named a captain by his teammates in Philadelphia.
Singleton is a lock to make the 53-man roster for the Broncos alongside Josey Jewell and Jonas Griffith, but the question remains as to who will be starting alongside Jewell, and personally, I would have to give the edge to Singleton his production has been really good, he is a good run defender and can drop back into coverage very well. Evero has had high praise for Singleton, mentioned previously, and he is a good leader. One of his strengths is being able to read a play pre-snap which, Griffith struggles at.
Singleton has been a signing that I believe has gone under the radar. I am really excited to see what he does in a Broncos uniform.
