Pat Surtain is the Broncos’ most valuable defender, and that’s just the beginning

Pat Surtain II is obviously the Denver Broncos’ best defensive player, with all due respect to edge rusher Nik Bonitto and defensive lineman Zach Allen, both of whom had career-defining seasons — both of which could prove individually impactful as they head into contract years in the 2025 season.

The question now is whether he will win the league’s top defensive honor.

The NFL awards its official Defensive Player of the Year award — with voting administered by the Associated Press — on Feb. 6 at NFL Honors in New Orleans. Just six cornerbacks have received the honor in the 53 previous seasons in which it has been awarded.

Surtain has a significant award on his ledger that he earned Wednesday — the Pro Football Writers of America’s defensive-player-of-the-year honor, which usually ends up going to the same player as the one who receives the AP award.

But despite the success of Surtain, cornerback is historically hard to quantify. Champ Bailey, for all of his greatness as a Broncos cornerback after five seasons with Washington, never earned Defensive Player of the Year plaudits. He became a first-ballot Hall of Famer and his number has been out of circulation with the Broncos for all but a brief period since his retirement, but he still didn’t earn the NFL’s highest single-season defensive award.

Surtain looks poised to do that.

“He’s definitely deserving for what he does for our football team,” Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said. “What people don’t see, if I place Pat in a certain spot of the field, man, the ball never goes there, so, for a coordinator, calling defenses is so perfect for me.

“It’s tough for a corner to get recognized because when he’s covering his guy and the ball doesn’t go there, no one notices that, right? But he’s played great. He’s a dominant player, obviously. If he wins the award, I wouldn’t be surprised by that.”

 

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Surtain’s lockdown ability — punctuated by his neutralization of Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase in Week 17 — separates him and opens up horizons for his teammates.

“It helps us so much,” edge rusher Jonathon Cooper said. “I mean, when you have a guy you just can put over anybody and lock ’em up, especially when it comes to their best receivers. I mean, how do you not win Defensive Player of the Year, in my opinion? There’s not a single person more valuable than him in this league, in my opinion.

“So, I love playing with him. I’m so happy he’s playing with me for real. And yeah, he just helps the team. He helps everybody be better.”

RANKING SURTAIN AND THE BRONCOS BY AV

Per Pro Football Reference‘s AV — “Approximate Value” — metric, Surtain wasn’t the highest-ranked Broncos player — edge rusher Nik Bonitto was.

The Broncos’ top defensive finishers in AV were as follows:

• Edge rusher Nik Bonitto: 16
• CB Pat Surtain II: 15
• DE Zach Allen: 15
• Edge rusher Jonathon Cooper: 9
• Linebacker Cody Barton: 8
• DL John Franklin-Myers: 8
• DT D.J. Jones: 8
• S Brandon Jones: 6
• S P.J. Locke: 5
• CB Riley Moss: 5
• LB Justin Strnad: 5
• Slot CB Ja’Quan McMillian: 4

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