A sixth-round Boise State safety who has carved out a role as a core special teams contributor in Denver.
JL Skinner arrived in Denver as a rangy, physical safety out of Boise State, and while his path to defensive snaps has been slow, he has become a fixture on special teams. A torn labrum limited his impact in 2025, but he enters the year fully cleared.
Path to the league
Skinner started 31 of 44 games at Boise State from 2019 to 2022, recording 208 tackles, seven interceptions and 20 passes defensed, and was named First Team All-Mountain West as a senior. Denver drafted him in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Career highlights
Skinner has settled into a special teams role for the Broncos, appearing in the large majority of Denver's games since being drafted while working to carve out a bigger part of the safety rotation on defense.
2025 season recap
Skinner played all 17 games in 2025 while dealing with a torn labrum, logging 68% of Denver's special teams snaps but only 3% of defensive snaps. He underwent surgery in February 2026 and has said he is fully cleared heading into training camp.
Sources
- Wikipedia: JL Skinner
- ESPN: JL Skinner
Statistics
2025 season and career2025 Season · Defense
17 games played▶Defense · career
| Year | Team | GP | TOT | SOLO | SACK | INT | FF | FR | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | broncos | 17 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024 | broncos | 14 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Safety
- Group
- defense
- College
- Boise State
- Hometown
- San Diego, CA, USA
- Age
- 25
- Status
- active
