Riley Moss surprised a lot of Denver Broncos fans in 2024.
After being picked by the Broncos in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft out of Iowa, Moss underwent core muscle surgery, a procedure that undoubtedly impacted his first season in the NFL. Moss had an underwhelming rookie campaign, playing just 3% of the team’s defensive snaps. After that, most fans in Denver didn’t have big expectations for Moss in Year 2.
Once fully healthy, however, Moss emerged as the team’s clear No. 2 cornerback in 2024, and he excelled playing across from Pat Surtain. The 25-year-old cornerback was healthy for 14 games last fall and he started all 14, totaling 86 tackles, eight pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Fans were surprised to see the cornerback step up, but was coach Sean Payton?
“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 last October. “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 [during 2024] training camp, we saw it all camp. So it wasn’t really a surprise. His ability to stay in phase man-to-man. 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.”
After impressing throughout the summer, Moss started for Denver in Week 1 and never looked back. There is some uncertainty about the team’s cornerback depth chart following the addition of first-round draft pick Jahdae Barron, but whether it’s outside or in the slot, Moss figures to remain one of the team’s top cornerbacks in 2025.
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