{"id":335053,"date":"2025-09-02T06:58:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T06:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/335053\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T06:58:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T06:58:27","slug":"broncos-pat-surtain-ii-named-no-10-overall-player-in-nfls-countdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/335053\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos Pat Surtain II named No. 10 overall player in NFL’s countdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Pat Surtain II<\/a> were choosing, he\u2019d have been nine spots higher.<\/p>\n

As it stands, though the Broncos\u2019 star corner and reigning defensive player of the year is in heady company.<\/p>\n

Surtain checked in at No. 10 on the NFL\u2019s countdown of the best players<\/a> in the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had to write a text book on cornerback play, it\u2019d be Pat Surtain,\u201d Baltimore cornerback and fellow 2024 Associated Press first-team All-Pro Marlon Humphrey said of Surtain in a video published by the NFL. \u201c\u2026 There\u2019s very few people that move that smoothly at his height, his size. It\u2019s like poetry in motion. It\u2019s honestly beautiful to see when he\u2019s in press man, which is what he\u2019s best at. It\u2019s really impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surtain was ranked No. 52 last year by fellow NFL players and vaulted up the list after putting together as dominant a season as a corner can author. Surtain regularly shut down opposing teams\u2019 top receiving options and likely cemented his grip on the DPOY award when he went toe-to-toe with Cincinnati\u2019s Ja\u2019Marr Chase and held him in check while guarding him in a late-December matchup.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a guy that you can go out there and put on any receiver and you don\u2019t hear about them the rest of the game, that does wonders for a D-line,\u201d teammate Nik Bonitto, who himself was ranked No. 38 on the countdown, said in the video.<\/p>\n

Surtain\u2019s part of a deep and talented Broncos secondary that added first-round pick Jahdae Barron and safety Talanoa Hufanga this offseason.<\/p>\n

Asked last week if he expects the ball to be thrown his way more this season after teams largely tried to steer clear of him in 2024, Surtain said he didn\u2019t know, but was excited to find out.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year is a new level and I feel like teams know that,\u201d he said. \u201cI think teams know what I bring to the table, but also with the DBs we have, I think we have a great secondary. I know my name\u2019s going to be called upon. I think I\u2019m going to get a lot of looks knowing the year I had last year. Each and every year it gets harder and harder, but it\u2019s just going to bring the best out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fifth-year cornerback is already a two-time first-team All-Pro and a three-time Pro Bowler. The 25-year-old was asked in the video who he thought the best player in the league regardless of position was and he smiled and said, \u201cCan I be biased?\u201d<\/p>\n

Surtain\u2019s the fourth Denver player on the list, joining Bonitto, quarterback Bo Nix (No. 64) and defensive tackle Zach Allen (No. 90).<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Pat Surtain II were choosing, he\u2019d have been nine spots higher. As it stands, though the Broncos\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[925,232,564,231,258,2426,7,1006,929,926,6,1625,3267,9,3319,1626],"class_list":{"0":"post-335053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-bo-nix","9":"tag-broncos","10":"tag-colorado","11":"tag-denver","12":"tag-denver-broncos","13":"tag-denverbroncos","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-jahdae-barron","16":"tag-latest-headlines","17":"tag-more-broncos-news","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-nik-bonitto","20":"tag-pat-surtain-ii","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-talanoa-hufanga","23":"tag-zach-allen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115133409456555805","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}