The Broncos didn’t exactly leave room for mystery when they kept five safeties for Week 1, and JL Skinner’s name on that list makes plenty of sense. The 2023 sixth-round pick has hung around long enough to know how thin the margin can be in this league, and this summer he gave Denver enough reason to keep him in the mix.
What pushed him over the top, according to starting safety Talanoa Hufanga, was simple.
“Consistency," Broncos starting safety Talanoa Hufanga told reporters on Aug. 31.
"Last year just being around as a teammate, just learning the ups and downs of the game. For me, you didn’t see a lot of the downs this training camp.
It was a lot of staying up and continuing to get better, learning the defense and schematics and putting himself in great positions. He is a great athlete.
A lot of people discredit, he has a 6’4” frame with a 220 [pound] body that can run 4.3 [seconds] when he wants to. That is what he did this training camp.”
Skinner’s path to this point has mostly been as a reserve and special-teams contributor. In his first three seasons with Denver, he has played in 33 games, logged 21 combined tackles and two fumble recoveries, and taken part in 697 career snaps. Only 54 of those snaps have come on defense.
Still, when Denver lost third-string S PJ Locke in free agency, Skinner got a real opening. He was put into competition with Devon Key and free-agent pickup Tycen Anderson for the job. The Broncos also brought in Miles Scott in the draft, though he was waived and later brought back on the practice squad.
For now, and unless Taylor Rapp returns to change the picture, Skinner looks like the favorite to hold the role.
"He's had a great [training] camp," defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said on Aug. 25.
"He made a total commitment this fall with his body, with his prep. Every single day he's been on.
He missed the entire spring with a shoulder injury. He came back on fire.
So, that was one of my camp goals our first day of camp, is to find some depth at the safety position. Losing PJ was a big deal for us, and he's had a great camp.
I've been proud of him."
Behind Hufanga and Brandon Jones, Denver’s safety picture still has some moving parts. Anderson and Key are expected to be important special teams pieces, while Skinner appears set to be the first option off the bench after the starters. Rapp could shuffle the rotation depending on the opponent.
Even with that uncertainty, the Broncos believe the back end of the defense can still be a strength. The unit is expected to remain among the league’s best, and the pass defense - with Hufanga, Jones and the cornerback group doing the heavy lifting - may be asked to carry even more of the load than in 2025.
“Glory be to God that I’m on the roster and I’m part of the team. At the end of the day, that is their decision and I believe that they are going to pick the right decision in every aspect," Hufanga said.
"Whatever their 53 [-man roster] entails, that is up to [Head] Coach [Sean Payton]. So for me, whoever is going to be lining up next to me and if I have the possibility of lining up with people, that is a time I don’t take for granted.
Just going out there and enjoying it. It’s all up to coach.”
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What makes this stretch interesting is that Denvers challenge is less about talent than about habits. The Broncos want more consistency, more takeaways and fewer of the late-season dips that have hurt them before, which means the next step has to come from detail and execution as much as personnel. For a defense with real expectations, the question is whether it can keep its edge long enough to turn a strong unit into a reliable one all year. [Read more 🡒]