There were a couple of tweets on safety play in the NFL dropped and despite a rough few weeks with missed tackles, the Denver Broncos have arguably the best or second best duo in the whole league in Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones.
The first came from Gridiron Grading on what they call “Havoc plays” that include a variety of impactful defensive plays like turnovers, tackles for losses, and pass breakups.
Hufanga is off up there in the stratosphere, but Brandon Jones is also in there among the elite to in that upper left box area. So when it comes to those kinds of Havoc plays, both Broncos’ starting safeties are balling out in 2026.
There was another on separation and on ball grades for all qualifying safeties. Denver actually had four make the chart, with Taylor Rapp having a lot of struggles. Devon Key has been really good on the on ball grade, but is lacking on separation percentage. However, both Jones and Hufanga are up there in the quality starter range. Hufanga is among the best on ball.
The caveat to all of these stats, of course, is neither guy has been able to stay on the field. Nothing major on the injury front, but the minor nagging type has caused both player to miss time. Hopefully we see them both back out there after the bye and locking down the back end of the defense.
Broncos daily recap
11 true Super Bowl contenders, and their biggest question
Looking at Denver through an EPA lens, you see a team that is more “league average” than Super Bowl contender. Denver’s talented defense is actually a below-average unit against the pass (when examining EPA/dropback) and the offense is right in the middle of the pack.
The Broncos have restructured Talanoa Hufanga’s contract
The move creates nearly $4 million in cap space for the 2026 season. Could they be eyeing an extension for a particular player?
No quarterback in NFL history has done what Bo Nix is doing
Another week – another fourth quarter comeback and game-winning drive for Bo Nix. He now has 13 and 16 respectively in 43 games started. That’s one 4QC every 3.3 GS and one game-winning drive every 2.7 GS.
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