Talanoa Hufanga

Career-best 67 tackles and 11 PDs in 2025 — his first Broncos season is also his most productive.

After his 2022 All-Pro breakout (58 tackles, 9 PDs, 2 sacks) and back-to-back injury-shortened seasons in San Francisco (10 games in 2023, 6 games in 2024), Hufanga's move to Denver in 2025 produced career highs almost everywhere: 67 tackles, 11 pass defenses, 6 TFLs.

It's the first full 17-game slate of his career, and the Broncos defense rode it to a deep January run.

2022 All-Pro line: 9 PDs and 2 sacks from the safety spot — the season that built the contract.

In 2022, Hufanga did everything you ask from a strong safety: 58 tackles, 5 TFLs, 2.0 sacks, 9 pass defenses, 2 forced fumbles. The blitz role gave him 3 QB hits to go with the sacks — rare production for a non-LB DB.

That profile — coverage + run support + pressure — got him a First-Team All-Pro nod and made the 2024 Broncos signing inevitable when San Francisco let him test the market.

Played in 23 games over 2023-2024 combined — fewer than his 2025 alone (17 REG + 2 playoff).

The two-year availability dip was the single biggest reason San Francisco moved on. 6 games in 2024 — a knee injury that ended his 49ers tenure on a low note. The fact that he came back in 2025 and played every regular-season game, plus two playoff rounds for Denver, reset his durability narrative completely.

2025 Broncos playoff run: 10 tackles, 2 PDs across the Divisional and Championship games.

Hufanga was the most active safety on the Broncos defense in the playoffs: 7 tackles in the Divisional round, then a 3-tackle, 2-PD, 1-TFL Championship game. He returned to the postseason for the first time since the 49ers' 2022 NFC Championship run.

His 2022 line — 5 TFLs + 9 PDs + 2 sacks + 2 FFs — has been matched by only a handful of safeties this decade.

The 'full stat sheet' safety season is rare. TFLs come from box snaps, PDs come from coverage, sacks come from blitzes, FFs come from clean tackling angles. Hufanga hit all four buckets at meaningful volume in 2022 — the kind of versatility that put him in the All-Pro conversation alongside players like Minkah Fitzpatrick and Derwin James.

He pieced parts of it back together in 2025 (6 TFLs, 11 PDs, 2 sacks) — arguably an even better season on a higher snap count.

2 seasons of 2+ sacks from the safety spot — most safeties never have one.

Hufanga has now logged 2.0 sacks in 2022 and 2.0 sacks in 2025 — bookend All-Pro-caliber years separated by injury. Multiple multi-sack seasons as a DB is uncommon: it requires a coordinator who actually trusts the player to blitz, plus the tackling angles to finish the play.

The Broncos' Vance Joseph defense gave him 3 QB hits in 2025 (matching 2022), confirming the blitz-safety role was a deliberate part of the system fit, not a fluke.