Denver Broncos 2018 roster evaluations: Safety

The top unit

The Broncos’ top safety unit is as deep as any group on the back end of any defense in the NFL.

Darian Stewart

The 29-year old Stewart has eight years of NFL experience already and has proven himself to be a great success story as a former undrafted player.

Stewart was a perfect complement to T.J. Ward for the Broncos’ 2015 defense and earned himself a second contract with the Broncos after a very strong 2016 season. He has picked off six passes over the past two seasons and has been durable, starting all but four games in his three seasons with Denver.

Despite posting very similar numbers in 2016 and 2017, Stewart’s play seemed to drop off a bit last season and he’s looking to bounce back as a leader in the secondary.

He played the majority of his snaps in 2017 from the free safety position.

Justin Simmons

The Broncos drafted Simmons in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft, and he’s one of the most exciting young players on the team.

With incredible athleticism, the 24-year old Simmons has a chance to emerge in 2018 as one of the best young safeties in the league.

He played in 13 games in each of the past two seasons, starting 16 of those 26 contests.

The Broncos utilized Simmons primarily as a free safety in 2017, but used him a fair amount in the box as a linebacker or even lined up as a nickel cornerback.

Will Parks

While he’s listed as a safety, the 23-year old Parks spends most of his time with the Broncos’ defense lined up in the box.

As a matter of fact, he spent almost half of his defensive snaps (297/597) with the technical designation of a ‘linebacker’, meaning his depth from the line of scrimmage was not far enough to be considered a safety.

This gives us some insight into how the Broncos use Parks’ physicality, as he spent another 141 snaps lined up as a slot corner.

Parks plays at or around the line of scrimmage most of the time and doesn’t play deep safety very often.

Su’a Cravens

Cravens was out of football in 2017 as he apparently contemplated retirement, but it wasn’t for lack of production as a rookie in 2016.

The Broncos allegedly had a first-round grade on the former USC star, but never had the chance to draft him as he went between Denver’s picks of Paxton Lynch and Adam Gotsis in that draft class.

Cravens will turn 23 this Summer, and his best football is ahead of him.

The Broncos will use him as a ‘dime back’ which means he will likely be a matchup player who will line up primarily in the box and against running backs or tight ends.

Cravens played ‘linebacker’ for the Redskins though he floats all around the defensive formation.

We talked about his ability to impact the game in a unique way here.