What Sean Payton wants at safety is a “first responder.”
In free-agent acquisition Talanoa Hufanga, he believes he found that.
“There is a toughness about the way he plays,” Payton said earlier this offseason. “Sometimes you can be a second responder and sometimes a first responder, and he appears first a lot on screen. There’s a style to how he plays.”
In other words, Hufanga doesn’t wait for others to make the play first, then arrive to clean up. He’s the one attacking runs and screen passes as they develop. He’s the guided missile launching upfield.
It’s something that the Broncos felt was missing — especially down the stretch last season, as injuries deteriorated the core of their two back lines of their defense. Linebacker Alex Singleton saw his season end after three games. Safety P.J. Locke played through injury, and wasn’t the same as he was a year earlier.
And by mid-December, opponents had a license to run through the Broncos. If they could get to the second level and past the stout defensive line, game over.
The result in Buffalo on Jan. 12 was a time-of-possession discrepancy that was the worst against the Broncos in over 41 years.
Along with Dre Greenlaw, the Broncos hope Hufanga changes that.
But the Broncos need Hufanga to be the Defensive Player of the Year candidate that he was with the San Francisco 49ers before he tore his anterior cruciate ligament 10 games into the 2023 season, sending him down a path of pain that sidetracked his career.
When Hufanga returned last year, he dealt with an ankle injury and subsequently tore wrist ligaments.
The ensuing struggles were obvious and understandable; opposing quarterbacks posted a 118.6 rating when targeting him, per data compiled by SportRadar.com.
In the 2022 and 2023 seasons prior to the ACL tear, that figure was 76.6, thanks to the seven interceptions he procured in that span.
Hufanga wasn’t the same, and with good reason.
Had he been healthy, he likely would still wear the 49ers’ scarlet and gold. Now, the focus — as with Greenlaw, Evan Engram and JK Dobbins — is on the Broncos’ methodologies yielding better outcomes after improving the team’s injury rate the last two seasons.
“Injury is part of the game,” Hufanga said during the offseason. “(Hall of Fame safety) Troy Polamalu always told me, ‘It’s a 100 percent injury rate regardless.’ For you to go in, you have to understand what comes with it.
“So, every injury that I’ve came along, I think it’s just a testament to who I am and to battle through adversity through those moments. [It is] something that I’ve taken in and wear on my sleeve when I go out on the field.”
Hufanga will have a solid partner in returning starter Brandon Jones, who is settled in after his finest season as a pro. He quickly found a rhythm with Hufanga.
“You would have thought we’ve been friends for all of our lives because of his vibe and how smart he is,” Jones said. “We shared the same position coach in college, so we came in knowing each other.
“It’s been really fun with his football I.Q.”
But with Hufanga’s recent injuries, the Broncos know their depth might be needed.
Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga
(Photo by Andrew Mason / Denver Sports)
SPECIAL TEAMS WILL DETERMINE THE DEPTH BEYOND HUFANGA, JONES
And that was a point that Payton made clear during offseason work.
“I say this: The quickest way is special teams. It’s hard to be safety [No.] 3 or 4 and not be a contributor,” Payton said. “So, I think that will be really important.”
And it makes the backup-safety competition the most compelling under-the-radar competition on the roster.
Start with Locke, who leads the reserves, bumped down after the addition of Hufanga. On his YouTube channel, Locke revealed that he underwent spinal fusion surgery, which left him sidelined during offseason work.
Locke sits in a precarious spot given his contract; the Broncos would save $4.19 million if they traded or released him.
But Hufanga’s recent injuries make it prudent to have a reserve with quality starting experience. Further, if Locke can stay healthy — and his role demands more special-teams work than it did in the last two seasons — then he would return to a task that he handled exceptionally well early in his career.
In the 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons, Locke was a core-four special teamer, playing at least 75 percent of the special-teams snaps in each campaign. That rate dropped as his defensive use rose. But if needed, his background shows plenty of capability — and leadership — in that phase.
But the Broncos are blessed with capable special teamers at the safety position, and the 53-player roster likely doesn’t have room for all of them.
Start with JL Skinner, a sixth-round pick two years ago. As a safety, he has failed to launch to this point as a pro; his aggression from his Boise State days has yet to translate on defense. But it has on special teams, where he played 312 snaps last year, more than any returning Bronco.
But on defense, Skinner played just 16 snaps. He found himself behind Devon Key, who made two starts in relief of Locke and Jones. Key was also involved on special teams last year, playing 257 snaps.
For Key, the results of his most extensive action were mixed; he struggled against Baltimore, but fared better a fortnight later in the romp over Atlanta.
Practice-squad player Keidron Smith, who played in nine games and saw 122 special-teams snaps, also returns after signing a reserve-future contract. He didn’t play after Week 11.
But the room is considerably more crowded with the return of Delarrin Turner-Yell from a torn ACL and the addition of veteran Sam Franklin Jr. in free agency. Turner-Yell was arguably the team’s best special-teamer in 2023 before his Week 17 injury that season; Franklin was a core special teamer in Carolina last season.
Among Locke, Key, Skinner, Smith, Turner-Yell and Franklin, probably no more than three stick on the initial 53-player roster. There aren’t any rookies in the mix because there simply wasn’t room; as it is, Denver is likely to cut at least one player who immediately lands somewhere else.
It’s a good problem to have, and a consequence of the roster-restoration work done over the last four years.
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