Vance Joseph has preached the same tenet for half the calendar now, even after one of the best years of his professional life.
Let’s start over again.
In 2024, Joseph’s defense was one of the primary catalysts for a 10-win season that reset expectations in Denver. Zach Allen, Nik Bonitto and company leveled sledgehammers at enemy lines. Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II was the league’s best anti-aircraft weapon. They had a great defense, Joseph affirmed during June’s minicamp.
That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that these Broncos are a great defense.
“Last year counts, but it doesn’t matter moving forward,” Joseph said. “We have to continue to improve. We added some more pieces. We watched our cut-ups from the fall. We weren’t perfect in every area.”
Indeed, a shiny third-ranked defense in ’24 wasn’t completely spotless. They were more middle-of-the-pack on third and fourth downs. They ceded a soft spot over the middle of the field a few too many times. And they saw career-best years from Surtain, Allen, Bonitto, and others — always a prime variable for negative regression.
Enter Joseph’s aforementioned pieces.
On the first official day of free agency, the Broncos nabbed two of the best names on the safety and middle-linebacker market: former San Francisco 49er locker-mates Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw. Suddenly, Denver approaches 2025 with precious few weak points on its defense and enviable depth in a variety of rooms.
As training camp approaches, then, here’s an early look at what a two-deep projection could look like for a new and possibly improved Broncos defense come Week 1 (base 3-4 unit), with plenty of shifting sure to occur in the preseason.
Defensive end
1. Zach Allen, John Franklin-Myers
2. Sai’vion Jones, Jordan Jackson
Starting point: Shouldn’t be much shifting here. Allen and Franklin-Myers are in line to take heavy snaps again after standout 2024 seasons. Both are entering contract years if the Broncos opt to wait to throw more money their way. The X-factor here is the rookie Jones, who Denver traded up for in the third round of April’s draft. General manager George Paton may well see Jones as insurance in a group of guys who might not all get paid. The LSU product has already put on roughly 10 pounds from his senior year to rookie year in Denver.
Jackson, one of many former Saints turned Broncos, quietly handled a solid workload at a variety of alignments last year and saw more heavy reps during minicamp. Matt Henningsen, a Broncos vet who spent last year on the practice squad, will also be competing with Jones for time here.
Nose tackle
1. D.J. Jones
2. Malcolm Roach
Starting point: Jones is back to chase a playoff run with his former boys from San Francisco. He signed a three-year extension this offseason as a stable point of the Broncos’ interior D-line. Quietly, Roach took a handful more snaps than Jones last season, and that tandem will be a key part of defensive line coach Jamal Cain’s rotation again.
Eyioma Uwazurike, a 2022 fourth-round pick, could also factor into 4-3 alignments and push for more time here. After serving a year-long suspension in 2023 for violating the NFL’s gambling policy, he put together some solid tape in four games in 2024 and saw heavy action in offseason activities.
Outside linebacker
1. Jonathon Cooper, Nik Bonitto
2. Jonah Elliss, Dondrea Tillman
Starting point: Pretty cut-and-dry here, as this quadrant’s set to run it back after racking up a combined 34 sacks in 2024. There could be more opportunity in store for Elliss after intriguing flashes across his rookie year, and Tillman offers a bigger body that’s unique in this particular OLB room.
Edge Andrew Farmer spent last year on the Broncos’ practice squad and had a couple of impressive reps in minicamp. The question here: How will rookie Que Robinson look once he tugs on a set of pads? The fourth-rounder from Alabama seemed to be in the backfield at every turn of the head across offseason activities. On paper, though, he’s more of a long-term project who should see the majority of any initial time on special teams.
Middle linebacker
1. Alex Singleton, Dre Greenlaw
2. Justin Strnad, Drew Sanders
Starting point: The starting point here should hinge on the Broncos’ training staff. If free-agent gem Greenlaw is fully rehabbed from his quad injury entering camp, and Singleton is full-go coming off an ACL tear 10 months ago, they’re unquestionably Denver’s starting duo. They’ve even been sitting next to each other in team meetings, as cheery vet Singleton affirmed this offseason.
Still, there’s an incredible amount of variability here. Strnad, back on a one-year deal, should be the next man up after earning a starting nod last year. Sanders has shifted back inside and took first-team reps during minicamp (with Greenlaw and Singleton sidelined), but he faces an uncertain path to playing time unless Joseph dials up specialty blitz packages. Second-year linebacker Levelle Bailey was a standout in minicamp, too, and undrafted rookies JB Brown, Jordan Turner and Karene Reid also are vying for spots on the 53-man.
Outside cornerback
1. Pat Surtain, Riley Moss
2. Kris Abrams-Draine, Jahdae Barron
Starting point: There’s a lot to unpack here. The biggest positional question on Denver’s roster is where and when Barron plays. There’s a high possibility Barron, a first-round luxury pick from Texas, ends up competing for time with Ja’Quan McMillian at nickel given that he largely played in the slot for the Longhorns in ’23. For now, though, Barron was largely seen taking second-team reps at outside corner in minicamp, so let’s toss him in this mix.
Moss should have plenty of chances to earn the benefit of the doubt after some solid performances next to Surtain in 2024. Don’t count out Abrams-Draine in a battle for reps here, too, a year wiser after he stepped up in a December spot-start against Indianapolis. However the Broncos decide to organize their 2025 secondary around Surtain, with the knowledge that the guy opposite him is going to have opposing quarterbacks’ eyes tearing a laser through the back of their jersey, is one of the keys to camp.
Nickelback
1. Ja’Quan McMillian
2. Uh…Mario Goodrich? (Maybe just Jahdae Barron here, too).
Starting point: Unless Barron winds up impressing the Broncos’ brass enough to toss him at nickel Week 1, McMillan is set to patrol the slot again for Denver for a third straight year. If Barron winds up competing more for an outside role, though, the bodies behind McMillan are fairly unclear. The best bet might be Goodrich, whom the Broncos signed from the UFL in June and took snaps at nickel for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023.
Safety
1. Brandon Jones, Talanoa Hufanga
2. Devon Key, P.J. Locke
Starting point: Hufanga is set to shake up the Broncos’ safety room after signing a three-year deal with the Broncos at the start of free agency. When healthy, he’s a sentient homing missile and born playmaker at free safety. His arrival, though, will seemingly shift Locke into a backup role after he started opposite Jones in 2024.
Locke, too, underwent spinal-fusion surgery this offseason in a journey he’s bravely documenting on YouTube. He’ll be full-go for camp, but that’s not an easy procedure to recover from, leaving his role somewhat in doubt. Key could compete for time there after quietly racking up 33 tackles last year, as could holdovers like JL Skinner and Delarrin Turner-Yell. Free-agent signee Sam Franklin Jr. is a name to watch, too. He’s likely a special-teams specialist after playing just three defensive snaps last year for the Panthers, but he has seen his fair share of time in the secondary across a five-year NFL career.
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