I'm a noob I shucked a WD Elements 2TB external drive I bought a few years ago and found the base board has USB, not SATA. It's a WD20NMVW. I'm guessing there's no SATA beneath all of this?
Most external 2.5" drives do not have sata connections. Only the 3.5" drives are a reasonable safe bet, and it's still not a sure thing. Best to look up the drive before purchasing.