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PlayerTalanoa Hufanga · S, Denver Broncos, Model Score 90.7Be the Broncos GM

Talanoa Hufanga

Denver Broncos
Pos S
Updated October 9, 2026
Compare Talanoa Hufanga S rankings →

Model Score

90.7 MODEL
2021
66.8
2022
90.7
2023
78.2
2024
75.5
2025
94.2
2026
90.7

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 →

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.

Comps

Overall match
size, testing and production, same career stage
Erik Harris ’2182%Lee Flowers ’9978%T.J. Ward ’1578%
Famous comp
names you know, same point in their careers (around year 5)
Bradley McDougald ’1674%Kyle Hamilton ’2574%
Plays like
on-field production only
Byron Jones ’1684%Brian Branch ’2584%Erik Harris ’2182%
Coming out

One of one. No NFL player had a college career this close. Closest: Barry Church ’10 (54%).

Of his 20 closest coming out: 1 star, 8 starters, 9 backups, 2 didn't stick.

Talanoa Hufanga Injury StatusNot listed

Talanoa Hufanga is not on the injury report as of Oct 8. Source: the official NFL injury report, refreshed daily.

Talanoa Hufanga Stats This Season · 4 games

2
INT
3
Pass Deflections
38.5%
Comp % Allowed
4.2
Yds / Target
0
TD Allowed
11
Solo Tackles

Draft & College

Round 5, pick 180 · San Francisco 49ers · 2021
USC (Pac-12)
Taken
#180
where he actually went
Consensus board
200th
average of the public big boards that spring
Our college model
#96
among S in our college data

He went about where consensus had him.

In college · 2018-2020 · 30 games
4 INT, 8 pass breakups, 203 tackles, 16 TFL

Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.

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