The Denver Broncos were in dire need of another playmaking safety to pair alongside Brandon Jones last offseason after they were bounced by the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. In free agency, they went out and filled that need by signing Talanoa Hufanga to a three-year contract worth up to $45 million.
Through the first nine games of the 2025 NFL season, Hufanga has been a wrecking ball on defense for Vance Joseph’s defense in Denver. He is second on the team in total tackles (61), third in passes defended (8) along with a sack, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He’s been everywhere, doing everything for one of the league’s best defenses.
While he’s leading the secondary in tackles, he’s been making plays that don’t pop in the box score. He’s been screaming off the edge to chase down runs from the back side, he’s been flying down from his deep safety spot to fill the run in the hole, he’s been shedding blocks when lined up as a box safety to help limit the run and he’s been covering all different kinds of players in the passing game.
Joseph raved about the Broncos’ new safety following Broncos practice on Tuesday.
“He is the ultimate eraser of anything in the run game or pass game that kind of pops and kind of gets loose, he kind of gets it down for us, and that’s the mark of a good safety,” Joseph said. “He has great size and a great range in both the run and pass game. He’s a guy who’s playing fast, even on the one play on the boot play. Our backers ran past it, he kind of caught a wind of it, went over the top of it made it for one yard. Those are special traits that the best guys have. He has those traits.”
Hufanga was second on the team in tackles with nine on Sunday. He also defended two passes, tied with Zach Allen for the most on the team. Even though Hufanga did a lot of heavy lifting with Pat Surtain out nursing a pectoral injury, Joseph emphasized that he didn’t have any more on his plate than in a normal game.
The 25-year-old out of USC has always been known for his physicality in the run game, but his pass coverage has been solid all season long, even to the point where it caught Joseph by surprise, especially given how different Denver’s scheme is to San Francisco’s, where Hufanga started his career.
“I was surprised in training camp when I watched him move around a little bit and cover guys. It was surprising, because he’s a big man, not a small person at all. But he’s a twitchy guy who can really jump and run, so his coverage stuff has been no issues for us. It’s been really a blessing to have his range at the top of zones. He’s touched two balls in two games, he’s dropped them both, he’s got to catch those footballs, but his range is apparent in the back end. That, I didn’t see in San Fran.”
The Broncos have an elite playmaker in the secondary in Hufanga. His All-Pro campaign in 2022 was no fluke, and he’s shown this year that, when healthy, he’s one of the best box safeties in the NFL.
