Payton on Broncos CB Riley Moss' Dominance: 'Wasn't Really a Surprise'

Riley Moss has emerged as one of the NFL's best young cornerbacks five games into his starting career.

Oct 6, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos cornerback Riley Moss (21) breaks up a pass intended for Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tre Tucker (11) in the first half at Empower Field at Mile High. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

As it stands, Denver Broncos second-year cornerback Riley Moss is the seventh highest-graded player at his position, according to Pro Football Focus. That's exciting, but remember that PFF's nebulous grading system is, at times, mystifying and leaves much to be desired.

After all, PFF has Patrick Surtain II — the NFL's best cornerback — ranked No. 16 in the NFL at the position. So while PFF's rankings can point us in the right direction, generally speaking, it's far from the end-all, be-all.

But there's no question that Moss is having himself a year. The 2023 third-round draft pick out of Iowa is in his first year as a starter, and the early returns have been near-on spectacular. In tandem with Surtain's production, the Broncos are giddy.

In the Broncos' 34-18 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Moss was pivotal. He had two passes defensed and notched the first interception of his career, as the Broncos smothered the Raiders' two quarterbacks. Between Moss and Surtain, the Broncos' cornerback duo totaled three interceptions.

On Monday, Broncos head coach Sean Payton shared his gratification at how quickly it's all coming together for Moss.

“One of the tough things sometimes when drafting a player out of college is you see him in maybe a couple of schemes," Payton said. "Riley, they played a lot of quarters at Iowa, and they played it well. They’re well-coached on defense. Then they’d mix in some other coverages. So then you’re projecting, ‘When they get to this level, how will they be in man, how will they be in these other coverages?’ I would say this training camp, we saw it all camp. So it wasn’t really a surprise."

We have the first white corner INT of this millennium!!!!! Riley Moss picks Minshew pic.twitter.com/j9kWj9fPRn

— ThatsGoodSports (@BrandonPerna) October 6, 2024

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Adding to Moss' feat early on is the fact that he's a.) faced some top-shelf Pro Bowl quarterbacks and b.) how he's performed considering that he's not named Surtain. QBs tend to pick on the guy playing opposite of the NFL's most notorious shutdown corner.

Just ask Dre Bly back in the day, who had to perform opposite of Champ Bailey Island, or even Bradley Roby when Aqib Talib was locking down the opposition's No. 1 wideout. It can be a thankless job.

"His ability to stay in phase man-to-man," Payton continued on Moss. "Then he has really good speed and really good length. Then factor that in with make-up, and [he] competes. To answer your question, you never quite know. In other words, you don’t know how that’s going to translate into other coverages at our level. Fortunately for us, it’s translated very well.”

On the season, the 6-foot, 193-pound Moss has started all five games, totaling four pass break-ups, 33 tackles (24 solo), and a tackle for a loss. He's one of those rare boundary cornerbacks who relishes sticking his nose in the muss and helping out in run support.

That's been a great boon to Vance Joseph's defense. Moss' competitive fire, length, and coverage chops have been on full display thus far. But it starts with his cultivation of mindset and the mental makeup.

“It’s one of those things where you need to be present. Mentally, physically, every day," Moss said on Sunday post-game. "You want your work days, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, to be harder than the game, so when you come into the game, it’ll be a lot easier. That's kind of the mentality that our entire defense has had. It has been working, but there’s still some things we’ve got to clean up. We shouldn’t have given up that many points. There’s still some stuff to get after.”

You've got to love the high standard and expectation that Moss has, and seems to share with the Broncos' core of young leaders.

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