Talanoa Hufanga
Denver BroncosModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
Season Stats · 17 games
Draft & College
He went about where consensus had him.
Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.
Comps
STM Take
2022 1st-team All-Pro plus Super Bowl LVIII appearance plus the 2025 tier 3 (#20) Denver bounce-back from the 2024 tier 8 ACL recovery puts Hufanga in the rare All-Pro-with-injury-recovery class. The USC 5th-round origin plus the Vance Joseph defensive scheme appear to be the catalysts. The 2026 question is whether Hufanga earns his second Pro Bowl plus crosses into tier 2 territory or whether the structural ACL wear closes the elite chapter.
Hufanga came out of USC as the San Francisco 49ers' 5th-round pick (180th overall) in 2021 after winning the 2020 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. He earned 2022 1st-team All-Pro plus Pro Bowl recognition. He tore his ACL in the 2023 midseason and missed extensive time. He signed with the Denver Broncos in 2025 free agency. His STTM career runs tier 8 (#100) rookie, tier 2 (#10) in 2022, tier 1 (#8) in 2023 ACL year, tier 8 (#94) in 2024 recovery, and tier 3 (#20) breakout in 2025.
Strengths
- 2022 1st-team All-Pro plus Super Bowl LVIII appearance plus the 2025 tier 3 (#20) Denver bounce-back establishes elite S career résumé.
- USC Pac-12 5th-round origin plus the rare All-Pro-as-5th-round-pick achievement gives him real outlier-positive career foundation.
Concerns
- 2023 midseason ACL plus the 2024 tier 8 (#94) recovery year puts continued durability question on every 2026 projection.
- Denver's broader defensive identity around Vance Joseph's continued tenure puts continued Hufanga ceiling partly scheme-dependent.
What to watch: Whether Hufanga earns his second Pro Bowl in 2026 plus crosses into tier 2 (top 15), the threshold for confirming the 2022 All-Pro ceiling can be recaptured.