Broncos Player Profile: Justin Simmons | S

What does the 2021 season have in store for the Broncos' recently-paid safety?

It was great to see the Denver Broncos work out a long-term deal with Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons relatively quickly after the team placed the franchise tag on him. The Broncos made him the NFL's highest-paid safety, which was very well deserved. 

There was no long, drawn-out battle between the team and the player, which helped keep the drama at a minimum with a fan favorite and locker room leader. Fortunately, Simmons is still growing as a player and should keep rising up.

His 2020 campaign wasn’t quite as good as his All-Pro body of work the year prior but it was still a high-quality season for the safety. Part of why Simmons had some issues in 2020 was that he had to do a lot to overcome the onslaught on injuries the Broncos dealt with at cornerback. 

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With what Simmons does best, those injuries didn’t allow him to play as freely and saw him trying to do too much to plug losses and overcome on the field. This is something that is actually common to see with players who are viewed as leaders when injuries start to pile up.

With the additions the Broncos made to the secondary, as well as getting healthy again upfront, there is no reason to doubt that Simmons will put up another great year. When the 2021 season is in the books, it's likely we'll be talking about Simmons having the biggest year of his career yet. 

Simmons has a knack for reading quarterbacks, finding the ball, and capitalizing on quarterback mistakes. Having quality depth at corner will lead to more freedom for Simmons and the pass rush upfront should lead to more quarterback mistakes. 

That's a winning combination. 

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