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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Jon Heath

JL Skinner can play deep or in the box with Broncos

The Denver Broncos added depth to their secondary in the sixth round of the NFL draft last month when they picked Boise State safety JL Skinner.

Skinner (6-4, 209 pounds) looks like a potential future Kareem Jackson replacement both on film and on paper. Jackon is a hard-hitting safety who often plays down closer to the box while Justin Simmons plays deeper in the secondary as a free safety.

Skinner might one day become a candidate to start at strong safety for Denver, and he’s open to playing anywhere in the secondary.

“At my school, we did a lot of both,” Skinner said after being picked by the Broncos when asked if he plays deep or down near the box. “I have experience doing both, so I’d say I do a lot of work down by the box.

“My school had me rotating down in a box a lot, so just depending on those situations and what the Denver Broncos want me to do, I’m able to do both. I feel very experienced deep in the post and down [in the box].”

After the Broncos re-signed Jackson, Skinner seems very unlikely to start as a rookie. He’s not even a lock to serve as the fourth-string safety this fall given that at least Simmons, Caden Sterns and Jackson are likely above him on the depth chart. P.J. Locke and Delarrin Turner-Yell might have an edge over Skinner at the moment as well.

With a deep safety depth chart, Skinner will face tough competition for playing time in 2023, but he’s a versatile rookie with a promising future outlook and the ability to emerge as a SS or FS.

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