Denver Broncos Camp: High praise for Kyle Fuller, new secondary
While the top story surrounding training camp for the Denver Broncos will continue to be the quarterback competition between Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater, a key story seemed to slightly fall through the cracks. After day one of training camp wrapped up on Wednesday, safety Justin Simmons had high praise for guys such as Kyle Fuller and the rest of the new-look secondary in his presser.
The following snippets are attributed to Zac Stevens of DNVR Sports:
Justin Simmons says Kyle Fuller is “amazing.” Says it helps he’s already been in the defense.
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) July 28, 2021
After accounting for many statistical lows in his career in his last season with the Chicago Bears in 2020, Kyle Fuller is surely ready for a boost in his career, and it is a great sign that he is already receiving high praise from a top-notch defender.
As we continue to eye statistics, Kyle Fuller’s arguable best career seasons were in 2017 and 2018, when he earned his career-high in passes defended and interceptions respectively. It is also worth noting that these stellar seasons for Fuller took place while Fangio was still serving as the defensive coordinator for the Bears.
As the team enters its third season with Fangio at the helm, it is incredibly vital to this secondary that they have brought in a veteran cornerback who is already familiar with and has benefited from Fangio’s defensive schemes. Fuller can play an immediate role in mentoring the younger players while adding his own expertise to boost the unit.
Realistically, this acquisition may be one of the most underrated and undervalued of the Denver Broncos offseason.
Simmons also spoke on the performances of Ronald Darby and Patrick Surtain II, calling Darby “athletically gifted” and applauding Surtain’s maturity, calling him a “do-it-all type-guy” (via Broncos PR).
With secondary being such a heavy priority for the team in the off-season, it is encouraging to hear from veterans that these guys are already living up to expectations just after day one. Of course, this unit may face some growing pains at the beginning of the season, but so far, the secondary quietly may be doing something special as the quarterback competition dominates headlines.
With the star-studded acquisitions of guys like Fuller and Darby, and the controversial draft selection of Surtain II, there is a lot of expectation placed on this unit, already being called the “No Fly Zone 2.0”.
No pressure at all, right?
Enjoy the news of Lock and Bridgewater vying to be QB 1 of the Broncos, and to perhaps finally provide a solution that Broncos Country has longed for since Super Bowl 50, but meanwhile, pay attention to the performance of this new secondary unit at Denver Broncos Camp.
It is too early to make assumptions or bold predictions, but this unit has the potential to be special, and they’re already off to a great start on that.