Broncos Rookie CB Kris Abrams-Draine Shines in Preseason Debut

The fifth-round pick was excellent in coverage against the Colts.

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver D.J. Montgomery (2) catches a pass in front of Denver Broncos cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine (31) during the second half at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

Buried within the footnotes of Bo Nix's impressive showing and the Denver Broncos' 34-point explosion amid Sunday's preseason-debut victory over the Indianapolis Colts is the emergence of a dark horse in the starting cornerback competition.

Though Damarri Mathis and Riley Moss ran with the first-stringers at Lucas Oil Stadium, it was fifth-round rookie Kris Abrams-Draine who had arguably the most effective performance according to Pro Football Focus.

The analytics giant assigned Abrams-Draine an 80.7 overall grade — fifth-highest on the team — and a dazzling 90.1 coverage grade. He allowed zero yards on two targets, across 19 applicable snaps.

Highest-graded Broncos in the preseason opener:

🥇 Alex Singleton - 89.9
🥈 Jonathon Cooper - 86.0
🥉 Brandon Johnson - 81.4
🏅 Matt Peart - 81.1
🏅 Kris Abrams-Draine - 80.7 pic.twitter.com/lspBFectqE

— PFF DEN Broncos (@PFF_Broncos) August 13, 2024

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A first-team All-SEC selection at Missouri and a converted wide receiver, Abrams-Draine (5-11, 178) entered the league with tantalizing upside. He's a smooth athlete and willing tackler with 4.44 closing speed, all of which has been on display in training camp.

“He came back confident," Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said last week. "His spring was a little choppy. He’s a young guy and it’s his first NFL camp. He wasn’t sure from a mental standpoint and a physical standpoint, but he came back confident. He’s made plays. Obviously, he’s not where he should be [and is] moving forward [towards his] final product, but he’s playing well. He’s competing.”

Abrams-Draine still has a ways to go to unseat Mathis, Moss, or veteran Levi Wallace for the permanent CB2 job opposite Patrick Surtain II. One of the latter is likelier to win the battle by the Sept. 8 regular-season opener at Seattle, if only out of sheer experience.

But plans change. Visions unfold. And Denver has theirs with the 22-year-old.

“He’s an outside-in vision. We think he can play inside, but we want to start with him outside," head coach Sean Payton said of Abrams-Draine on Aug. 5. "We’ll move him round, but we have those discussions just like we do with the receivers. I mentioned it last week—‘in-out’ or ‘out-in’—we’d do with the corner [back].”

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