If Pat Surtain II were choosing, he’d have been nine spots higher.
As it stands, though the Broncos’ star corner and reigning defensive player of the year is in heady company.
Surtain checked in at No. 10 on the NFL’s countdown of the best players in the league.
“If I had to write a text book on cornerback play, it’d be Pat Surtain,” Baltimore cornerback and fellow 2024 Associated Press first-team All-Pro Marlon Humphrey said of Surtain in a video published by the NFL. “… There’s very few people that move that smoothly at his height, his size. It’s like poetry in motion. It’s honestly beautiful to see when he’s in press man, which is what he’s best at. It’s really impressive.”
Surtain was ranked No. 52 last year by fellow NFL players and vaulted up the list after putting together as dominant a season as a corner can author. Surtain regularly shut down opposing teams’ top receiving options and likely cemented his grip on the DPOY award when he went toe-to-toe with Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase and held him in check while guarding him in a late-December matchup.
“Having a guy that you can go out there and put on any receiver and you don’t hear about them the rest of the game, that does wonders for a D-line,” teammate Nik Bonitto, who himself was ranked No. 38 on the countdown, said in the video.
Surtain’s part of a deep and talented Broncos secondary that added first-round pick Jahdae Barron and safety Talanoa Hufanga this offseason.
Asked last week if he expects the ball to be thrown his way more this season after teams largely tried to steer clear of him in 2024, Surtain said he didn’t know, but was excited to find out.
“Every year is a new level and I feel like teams know that,” he said. “I think teams know what I bring to the table, but also with the DBs we have, I think we have a great secondary. I know my name’s going to be called upon. I think I’m going to get a lot of looks knowing the year I had last year. Each and every year it gets harder and harder, but it’s just going to bring the best out of me.”
The fifth-year cornerback is already a two-time first-team All-Pro and a three-time Pro Bowler. The 25-year-old was asked in the video who he thought the best player in the league regardless of position was and he smiled and said, “Can I be biased?”
Surtain’s the fourth Denver player on the list, joining Bonitto, quarterback Bo Nix (No. 64) and defensive tackle Zach Allen (No. 90).
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