With their 166th overall selection in the 5th round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals selected safety Tycen Anderson. After a successful college career at Toledo, Anderson looked to make a name for himself in the NFL with the Bengals.
His rookie season with the Bengals was cut short due to a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve. He would not appear in a game that season but would look to bounce back in 2023. That season, he would end up making the team and appear in 7 games
for the Bengals and become a key special teams player for them. That would remain the same in 2024 and in 2025, when Anderson played in 75% and 83% of the Bengals’ special teams snaps that season and became the heart and soul of that special teams unit. Throughout Anderson’s career, he has appeared in 41 games and has totaled 42 tackles and 1 pass deflection.
This past offseason, Anderson became an unrestricted free agent and became the first outside free agent that the Denver Broncos would go on to sign after re-signing a number of their own free agents.
Now, he joins a Denver Broncos roster as a special teams ace and a team that already has an All-Pro special teamer in Devon Key. He will look to strengthen an already talented special teams unit while also adding some depth on the defensive side of the ball at the safety position.
Player Profile
Tycen Anderson | Safety/Special Teams | Denver Broncos
- Height: 6-2
- Weight: 210 pounds
- Age: 27 years old
- Experience: 5th NFL season
- 40-time: 4.36 seconds
- Vertical Jump: 37 inches
- 2025 stats: Appeared in 17 games and had 23 tackles and 1 pass deflection
Tycen Anderson’s 2026 outlook with the Denver Broncos
He is competing for a roster spot, a key role on special teams, and potentially a role at safety on the defensive side of the ball.
As the roster stands as of this writing, I believe Anderson has a pretty good shot at making the team. He is a known special teams ace and will pair with All-Pro Devon Key to give the Broncos two very good players in that often-forgotten phase of the game. With that said, I would not call him a lock to make the team. We have seen the Broncos under Sean Payton bring in other special teams aces(Sam Franklin Jr. and Trent Sherfield) that either didn’t make the team or stay on the roster for very long. So, we have to see how things shake out for Anderson moving forward.
The thing I am most curious about with Anderson is his potential role on defense. Throughout his four seasons with the Bengals, he played just 64 defensive snaps, all of which came this past season on a pretty bad Bengals defensive squad. The Broncos lost reserve safety/former starter P.J. Locke to the Cowboys during free agency and have not really replaced his vacant role thus far. I am assuming that Devon Key will get the first crack at it, but his defensive history is fairly limited as well. So, Anderson has an opportunity here to potentially take over as the Broncos’ third safety and become more than a special teams ace.
He will be competing with All-Pro special teamer Devon Key, rookie 7th-round pick Miles Scott, JL Skinner, and undrafted rookie Parker Robertson. On paper, the Broncos’ safety depth is not great, so one of these players will have an opportunity to run away with that role if they have a strong training camp and preseason.
Final Thoughts
The Broncos’ safety depth will be an interesting positional group to watch throughout training camp and the preseason. As I mentioned, you have some real special teams talent, but as for defensive talent, it gets pretty murky.
Could the Broncos coaching staff unlock something in Anderson and turn him into a valuable depth piece? It’s possible. The same could be said for Key, Skinner, Scott, or even Robertson, but I have my doubts.
I still think Key gets the first crack at that third safety role. He earned that opportunity by excelling on special teams, and the coaching staff seems to like him as a player. After that, the rest have an opportunity to push for that role and become one of those summer surprises that rise up the depth chart.
I think an outside veteran addition with some starting experience under their belt is likely, but we shall see what the Broncos do moving forward. Would be ideal to see a player like Tycen Anderson go from being a special teams ace to a key reserve (much like P.J. Locke), but again, we shall see how it all plays out in the near future.
