The Denver Broncos made what some consider to be a surprise move when they released safety Taylor Rapp on Friday.
Despite starting the season on the practice squad, Rapp played a starting role on defense over the past three weeks, and prior to his third start in Week 8, was elevated to the active roster.
Now no longer having need of the 28-year old's services implies that safety Talanoa Hufanga; who did not practice on Wednesday and was limited on Thursday; is good to go for Week 9 against the Carolina Panthers.
The former Buffalo Bill had been covering Hufanga's duties whilst the two-time All-Pro safety dealt with an ankle injury over the past few weeks, alongside fellow starter Brandon Jones .
Officially, Hufanga is "questionable", but the timing of the announcement feels inescapable; the Broncos surely would not release their interim starter for the past three weeks without a high degree of confidence that their top guy was ready to go.
Especially given the two next men up, Devon Key and Tycen Anderson , have four combined NFL starts between them.
Even then, two of Key's starts were in Week 6 and Week 7, during which he played less than 40% of snaps on defense, with Rapp and Jones seeing the majority of the action.
Anderson himself is mostly a special teams contributor, so if Hufanga is not ready, then the Broncos will have no full-time safety option behind Jones and Key.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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