The Denver Broncos have quickly infused a ton of youth into their secondary, and their major decision to move on from a fan-favorite has already paid off. The Broncos' move to cut Justin Simmons was a shock if you ask me. Even with the high cap number he would have been under with the Broncos in 2024, some thought that a restructure or extension were coming.
Well, Denver decided to just rip the Band-Aid off and start fresh. They essentially replaced the long-time Broncos' safety and fan-favorite with Brandon Jones, who had spent the first part of his career with the Miami Dolphins. And in 2024, Jones has been clearly better than Simmons, and this move by the Broncos has already paid off.
The Denver Broncos do not miss Justin Simmons
Thus far in 2024, both Simmons and Jones have played 15 games. Jones has more interceptions, more solo tackles and total tackles, more QB hits, more forced fumbles, and more fumble recoveries. The one area where Simmons has a slight edge is in coverage. Simmons has allowed a passer rating of 66.0 this season. He has surrendered 18 completions for 186 yards and two touchdowns.
Brandon Jones has allowed a 79.1 passer rating this year, surrendering 46 completions for 477 yards and two touchdowns. However, Simmons has missed 11.1% of his tackles this year, and Jones has missed just 6.6%, Simmons has played four more snaps than Jones this year.
But if you ask me, the Denver Broncos' secondary has actually been in more of garbage time situations, as Denver has had their share of blowouts, so in end-of-game situations, opposing offenses will get to put up some garbage time stats through the air, and Denver usually would play prevent defense in that regard.
Brandon Jones has been a more productive safety than Justin Simmons this year, and it's not even close. I will admit that I had no idea why the Broncos signed Jones last offseason, as I had thought that there were better safeties on the market, but Jones has been top-10 at his position in 2024 and is still only 26 years old.
There is a lot to like about this young secondary with guys like Jones, Patrick Surtain II, Ja'Quan McMillian, Riley Moss, and even rookie CB Kris Abrams-Draine. I would not hate if the Broncos sought an upgrade over PJ Locke III, who is just OK if you ask me. But the Broncos' decision to cut Simmons in favor of Brandon Jones was absolutely the right move.