Do Broncos Have the Best Safety Duo in the NFL? PFF Weighs in
The defense that led the Denver Broncos to Super Bowl 50 may never be replicated by the organization again. Dragging a shell of an offense to the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs while defeating Ben Roethilsberger, Tom Brady, and 2015 MVP Cam Newton on the way to a Super Bowl 50 championship, it was a defense that will go down in history as one of the best all-time.
While the defense has regressed some since that magical Super Bowl run, the unit is still the backbone of this Broncos’ team. The offense gets most of the attention because of how deficient the unit has been over the past few seasons, as well as the front office's heavy usage of resources to kick-start the sputtering offense.
Still, if the Broncos are to go places in 2020, it will likely be due to another great defense emerging in the Mile High City.
Expecting the 2020 iteration of the Broncos’ defense to mimic its 2015 counterpart is an unfair ask. The 2015 unit was supremely talented in all of the most important places.
Having not only an incredible starting unit along the defensive line but amazing depth as well, on top of one of the best man-coverage cornerback trios the league has seen in the last decade, the 2015 Broncos will be nearly impossible to duplicate.
Despite the Broncos being in the running to be one of the better squads this upcoming season under the direction of Head Coach Vic Fangio, the unit doesn’t stack up pound-for-pound against the 2015 counterpart. That is, except at the safety position.
If there is any aspect of the 2020 defense that is better than the 2015's, it is the safety duo of Kareem Jackson and Justin Simmons.
This is not meant to be an insult to Darien Stewart and T.J. Ward, who were key cogs in the Broncos' 2015 Super Bowl run, but rather speaks to the immense talent of the current safety duo. Just like the 2019 defense as a whole, while the Denver safety duo was great on every snap they played last year, it was in the red zone where they really thrived in the Fangio defense.
The safety duo was one of the big reasons the Broncos were the best defense in the league when it came to keeping opponents from hitting pay-dirt inside the 20-yard line. Denver only allowed red-zone possessions to result in touchdowns on 39.13% of trips.
Further, the Broncos possessed the best points-per-red-zone-trip average at 4.0 in the NFL, while giving up the most field goals per drive in the NFL at .201. The defense may have given up some yards between the 20s last year, but embracing Fangio's 'bend don’t break philosophy and clamping down in the red zone to limit points is the direction the best defenses are heading in today’s NFL. After all, teams don’t score points but putting up yards.
It wasn’t just the red zone where Simmons and Jackson dominated in 2019. With Simmons finishing as PFF’s No. 1 safety in the entire NFL (playing a minimum 800 defenses snaps) and Jackson finishing as the No. 7 safety, the only safety duo that could give Denver a run for their money would be Minnesota’s Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith.
The only real concern about the Broncos’ safeties is that behind the starting duo is a heap of unknown talent. Losing Will Parks in free agency, who was the Broncos’ No. 3 safety and ended up being the de facto slot corner in sub-packages down the stretch, might be an issue at some point this season.
This questionable safety depth, on top of the massive uncertainty that is the cornerback room, positions the Broncos’ secondary as a far cry from that of the No Fly Zone.
Still, with Simmons and Jackson, the Broncos’ secondary will at least be good — if not better. Fangio’s defense is known for getting the most out of his safeties, but there is no doubt Jackson and Simmons help the defensive system as much as the defensive system helps them.
Expecting the 2020 defense to come near its 2015 form is unrealistic and the offensive revolution Denver is seeking is likely still a year or so off. However, with Fangio pulling the strings and these two safeties on the back-end, the Broncos' ability to make some noise this season will start with the defense and its starting safety duo.
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