Broncos' CB Patrick Surtain lands on elite list for second straight season
The Denver Broncos star player finds himself on another elite list for the second time in a row, which has to mean something big. The Broncos have a ton of good players, but most of them are veterans who have established themselves in the league. Sure, they have some good young guys, but not nearly […]
The Denver Broncos star player finds himself on another elite list for the second time in a row, which has to mean something big.
The Broncos have a ton of good players, but most of them are veterans who have established themselves in the league. Sure, they have some good young guys, but not nearly as many as guys like Russell Wilson, Zach Allen, D.J. Jones, and even Justin Simmons, who have all already played on a first contract and have received more than one.
There is one guy though that I think everyone can agree is the best player on the team. Had Wilson been better last year, I think it's a no-brainer he is the best player on the team. But, he played pretty badly, even if some of it was coaching. So the best player on the team at this moment is unanimously Patrick Surtain, the soon-to-be third-year cornerback.
The young stud is already the best player on his team, and one NFL analyst thinks he is one of the best players in the league under the age of 25, and I think all of Broncos Country will agree.
CB PATRICK SURTAIN II, DENVER BRONCOS
Surtain’s 66.3 coverage grade in 2021 was solid for a rookie (don’t let Sauce Gardner’s grade this past year skew your thoughts of an expected rookie year for young cornerbacks). But his 86.7 coverage grade in 2022 was exactly the kind of jump into elite play we were hoping for. He allowed just 417 passing yards in coverage with eight forced incompletions.
It's crazy to think that as a second-year player, he entered himself into a conversation as he has, as one of the best, if not the best cornerback in the league. He is certainly a top-three guy at his position, and definitely a top-10 guy under 25.
We have to think, he is just 23, so he will be on this list for another year, and was on it last year, where he came in at No. 20. The Jump from 20 to seven, even if it is because of guys aging out of eligibility for the list, is still impressive.
He is below guys like Micah Parsons, Justin Jefferson, Tristan Wirfs, Ja'Marr Chase, and so on. Those guys are some of the best players in the league, so seven, to me, seems like a good spot for him to land. The Broncos may have made the right choice going with Surtain instead of Justin Fields.
