As you’ve undoubtedly already heard, T.J. Ward is no longer a member of the Denver Broncos. Ward was cut last week as a result of multiple factors, including the Broncos enviable depth and youth at the safety position, but nothing factored in more than the trust the organization has in second-year player Justin Simmons.
Simmons has started two games in his career, replacing Ward in Weeks 16 and 17 of the 2016-17 regular season, and has since started every game of the preseason, looking anything but out of place.
However, Ward and Simmons aren’t like-for-like replacements of each other, as Simmons is at his best playing in coverage, often as a high safety, and Ward did the majority of his damage roaming the box, coming downhill to wreck havoc.