Broncos CB Pat Surtain II 'Should be DPoY Frontrunner', per NFLN

Patrick Surtain II has made an indelible impression on NFL media.

Oct 6, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II (2) pulls in a interception intended for Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (16) in the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Denver Broncos defense has been balling. Five straight weeks of great football have led Denver to a 3-2 record at this point in the season.

It takes an entire defensive unit to play as cohesively and aggressive as the Broncos have been able to do to this point in the season, but without a doubt, the main reason they can be so aggressive with (second-highest blitz rate in the NFL at 40.1% according to Pro Football Reference) is because they have one of the best players cornerbacks in the entire NFL in cornerback Patrick Surtain II.

Surtain is undoubtedly the straw that stirs the drink for Denver, and he's playing Hall-of-Fame-caliber ball right now. Just how good has Surtain II been so far in 2024?

According to Yahoo Sports’ and NFL Network’s Nate Tice, Surtain should be the frontrunner for the Defensive Player of the Year award at this point in the season.  On his most recent appearance on Good Morning Football on NFLN, Tice broke down the Broncos defense and just how incredible PS2 has been this season.

“I really want to say… he should be the defensive player of the year frontrunner right now. This guy is insane. He’s the prototype at corner right now. Not only coverage and size but tackling and intelligence and technique. Him and Riley Moss, his corner compatriot, are phenomenal. Two of the stickiest corners in the game right now… Patrick Surtain has allowed two catches 29 yards to George Pickens, three catches 29 yards to DK Metcalf, two catches to 17 yards to Mike Evans, five catches [and] 41 yards to Garett Wilson. So he’s letting up 10 yards a pop to these guys, and he’s doing it one-on-one against the hardest receivers in the game… He’s a great tackler. He’s got a Heisman moment now with that pick-six going against the Raiders… This guy is just playing phenomenal ball and is truly one of the best players in the league. I believe he should be one of the Defensive Player of the Year frontrunners right now," Tice said.

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Historically, the DPoY has gone to a front-seven player who has the ability to accumulate far more counting stats that are easier for voters who don’t watch every snap of every game to see. Whether it be tackles from a linebacker or sacks from a pass rusher, unless a defensive back is approaching double-digit interceptions or putting up an absurd number of defensive touchdowns, the awards just don't go to defensive backs all that often. To this point in the season, though, Surtain has a real shot.

Surtain might not win DPoY, and as Tice stated, calling the leading candidate for the award might be a “hipster” take, but he is playing phenomenal football. Surtain is being tasked with playing true island coverage in a league where teams aren’t leaving corners to man up against their best receivers all that often.

Defense is and will always be about the sum of the parts being greater than the individual pieces, and without the pass rushers and defensive line stepping up and the other corners playing tight coverage in man, Surtain’s impact would be lessened. But his ability in man coverage, his tackling, and, starting last week, his playmaking ability should keep him in the DPoY conversation as long as the Broncos continue to win and the defense keeps playing at an elite level.

A defensive back has won the award five times, dating back to 2000, and just once in the last 13 seasons (Stephon Gilmore/2019). Even though Tice would cast his vote for Surtain to win the award right now, DraftKings has his odds down at +2500 behind Detroit’s Aiden Hutchinson, Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby, Green Bay’s Xavier McKinney, San Francisco’s Nick Bosa, Kansas City’s Chris Jones, New York Giants’ Dexter Lawrence, San Francisco’s Fred Warner, and Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons.

Furthermore, analytics giants like Pro Football Focus aren’t favoring Surtain either, given that he's graded as just the 13th-best corner in the NFL this season, drawing fair criticism of the site and its grading system so far this season.

Back to the sum-of-its-parts thing, Denver's defense ranks No. 3 in EPA/Play and Success Rate and No. 2 in Explosive Play Rate. Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is getting it done with aggressive blitz-oriented fronts paired with man coverage on the back end of the defense.

Playing some of the highest rates of man coverage (tied for No. 1 in Cover 0 at 9% and No. 3 in Cover 1 at 36%), Denver is following a different formula compared to the two-high safety shells with zone coverage that have spread across the league thanks to Surtain.

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