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          Why Pat Surtain II might be the best Broncos cornerback ever

          Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II has as many interception return yards (128) as yards surrendered to opponents' No. 1 receivers this season. Cooper Neill/Getty Images
          • Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior WriterDec 2, 2024, 11:00 AM
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              Jeff Legwold is a senior writer who covers the Denver Broncos and the NFL at ESPN. Jeff has covered the Broncos for more than 20 years, joining ESPN in 2013. He also assists with NFL draft coverage, including his annual top 100 prospects. Jeff has been a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors since 1999. He has attended every scouting combine since 1987.
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          ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Twenty-six Pro Bowls. Seven first-team All-Pros. One hundred and thirty-five interceptions. Twenty-four defensive touchdowns.

          Those are the combined stats of former Denver Broncos cornerbacks Champ Bailey, Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr. and Louis Wright.

          The next in line to the lockdown corner throne in Denver? Pat Surtain II, a player incredibly refined, technically sound and gifted in approach and abilities. Wright simply said: "If he does it a long time the way he does it now, he will be the best of us."

          "If anybody could build a corner, in the way you want everything, it would look like him," said Bailey, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and three-time first-team All-Pro selection. "Big, long, tough, smart, focused, serious. Those things prepare him to dial in how you become great, how you prepare, how you practice."

          Surtain, the Broncos' first-round pick in the 2021 draft, is a two-time Pro Bowler and was named a first-team All-Pro in 2022. He has racked up 10 career interceptions and 37 pass breakups. The Broncos know what they have, signing Surtain to a four-year, $96 million extension with $77.5 million guaranteed -- the most for a cornerback in NFL history -- in September. The deal keeps him in Denver through the 2029 season and was done despite the Broncos' salary cap constraints after the release of quarterback Russell Wilson in March. General manager George Paton called it "a no-brainer."

          Heading into Monday night's game with the Cleveland Browns (8:15 p.m. ET, Empower Field at Mile High, ABC/ESPN), we asked the four legendary ex-Broncos corners to break down Surtain's game and what makes him one of the league's best players. Each came to the same conclusion: With his rare combination of size, speed, agility and big-moment calmness, Surtain could end up the best of them all.

          "I know the legacy here," Surtain said. "Some of the greatest of the greats have played here. I know I have a long way to go, a lot of work to do, but yes, I want my name up there with theirs. That would be an honor if people said my name like theirs."

          SURTAIN IS LISTED at 6-foot-2 and 202 pounds, so he's bigger than most NFL cornerbacks. But he's also just as fast -- if not faster.

          In a Week 5 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, Surtain had a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown, one of 16 pick-sixes in the NFL entering Week 13. Surtain was tracked at 20.92 mph by NFL Next Gen Stats, the fastest speed on an interception return for a touchdown this season.

          "I coached Louis [Wright], and he was the first real big corner with that kind of speed in the league that I had seen," the late Joe Collier, a longtime Broncos defensive coordinator, said earlier this year. "[Surtain] has that rare size and speed and the flexibility in his hips. Big guys have one of those things, or straight-line speed. But all three? You just don't see it."

          Receivers are more likely to be Surtain's size and according to Bailey, the pool of players is "always a lot bigger than the one at corner -- just look at any draft."

          Six of the 42 cornerbacks who attended the 2024 NFL combine measured 6-foot-2 or taller. So before the prospects ran, jumped or even spoke to a single scout or general manager, the group of CBs with Surtain's measurables was shallow.

          "He's got that size, baby," said Talib, a five-time Pro Bowler who had 35 career interceptions and was a key part of the Broncos' Super Bowl 50 champion defense. "To play outside, you can't be small, play small. He just lines up and receivers know right away he ain't like many."

          Wright was listed at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds when he played for the Broncos -- he was selected to five Pro Bowls and the 1970s All-Decade Team -- and ran a hand-timed 100-meter dash in 9.6 seconds at San Jose State. Wright said players with his size were often seen as safeties because they could run and be physical enough to tackle in the run-heavy NFL.

          "The taller guys, they look at you sometimes like you won't have that speed and the hips at the same time to play corner," Wright said. "[Surtain has] quickness in the short area, the speed when he opens his hips."

          The 5-foot-10 Harris, who received All-Decade honors as a nickel corner in the 2010s and was also on the Super Bowl 50 championship team, joked he lived "a different life out there."

          "It's a long way for receivers to go around him," Harris said. "Off the line they have to take slightly longer releases, they can't be as tight on him as they might be on a smaller guy. So just by him walking up to the line of scrimmage, it's already difficult for a receiver ... and then add all the rest of it, shoot."

          CORNERBACK IS A position of failure in many ways. Mistakes become touchdowns, the fuel for viral clips and emojis none want attached to their play.

          Modern NFL quarterbacks throw with more efficiency, too. In 1999, only five teams completed 60% or more of their passes. This season, 31 of the league's 32 teams are at 60% or above. It has reached a point where former Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway called cornerback "one of the foundational positions" of the league, as defenses combat the pass-heavy offenses.

          The ability to maintain confidence, swagger and a bring-it-on mentality on every snap is extremely difficult for young corners. But Surtain has it all in abundance.

          "You have to have a boldness about you to play the position." Bailey said. "... One of the most difficult lessons at corner is the understanding [that] you can't stop everything. But he controls absolutely everything he can control -- technique, being a great tackler, confidence -- he does all that."

          Surtain is rarely targeted in coverage yet consistently finds a way to make an impact. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, through Week 12 Surtain has allowed the fewest receiving yards (182), lowest passer rating when targeted (47.6) and lowest EPA/target (minus-0.68) among all cornerbacks in the league with at least 250 coverage snaps.

          Surtain has lined up against the opponents' best more this season than his previous three. He has shadowed the likes of the Jets' Davante Adams, Seahawks' DK Metcalf, Bucs' Mike Evans, Jets' Garrett Wilson, Chiefs' DeAndre Hopkins and even Raiders tight end Brock Bowers this season. Next Gen Stats says Surtain has allowed 13 receptions for 128 yards on 164 routes run against him by the opponents' top pass catchers. To put that in perspective, Surtain has gained 128 yards himself on his three interception returns this season.

          Metcalf's three receptions for 29 yards (24 routes run) in the season opener have been the most Surtain has allowed. The talented corner makes the NFL's best receivers adjust to him and not the other way around.

          Harris said, "He's never in a rush in what he does. He just never looks threatened."

          "He doesn't want to give up anything," Bailey said. "He doesn't want you to touch a ball, get a yard, have an inch to breathe. And it's every down. Some guys ratchet up for a play here or there, [but] he wants you to go home with nothing in your pockets."

          BAILEY HAS OFTEN said the best cornerbacks can execute the ballet of footwork at the position -- backpedaling, changing direction laterally and sprinting with some of the fastest players in the game -- while still having the strength and physicality to redirect receivers with their hands. It's a balance, as one little slip-up can result in a touchdown. Wright sees few errors when watching Surtain's film.

          "Two things really stick out to me," Wright said. "... He always gets his head around, he finds the ball no matter his body position. Hard to do, most don't do it when their bodies are a certain way.

          "And when he plays bump-and-run, he really plays it; he gets his hands on a receiver. Lot of people line up in it but don't play it. If you're not going to put your hands on a receiver, don't go up there. Perfect technique when he does it."

          Surtain has played 42 snaps in press coverage as an outside corner this season, tied for 26th-most in the NFL through Week 12. But he's the only cornerback with multiple interceptions in press, as two of his three came after playing tight at the line of scrimmage.

          To develop this outstanding technique, Surtain had an advantage. His father, Patrick, was a three-time Pro Bowl selection with 37 interceptions over an 11-year NFL career at cornerback (1998-2008 with the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs). The elder Surtain also coached his son at American Heritage School in Plantation, Florida, to back-to-back state championships. Surtain Jr. was a five-star recruit and chose Alabama over LSU.

          "You can tell he studies, and not just a little bit," Harris said. "He's always good with his route recognition. Easy to see the guys who aren't. And he is [prepared] every time, he understands the route concepts. You make plays because you know where the ball is going and you're in position."

          Added Talib: "Man, mom and Big Pat did a great job."

          Talib was considered an aggressive defender in man-to-man coverage -- a risk-taker. Former Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips had the luxury of Talib and Harris in the same defense and often said he liked "the fight'' the two had when the ball was in the air. Talib said Surtain has a calmer presence than he did, but Surtain's fight in coverage comes from technique.

          He was especially impressed by Surtain's interception against the Carolina Panthers in Week 8. On a fourth-and-5 from the Broncos' 25-yard line, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young tried to get a ball to tight end Tommy Tremble but found Surtain instead.

          "That interception, guy runs a pivot, [Surtain] doesn't even get caught with that," Talib said. "They're in a zone, he's off the ball, he knew where the guy was going and the interception just looks like an overthrown ball, you know? Easy. But not a lot of guys would have intercepted that ball because they would have been all-in that pivot, going in and out. ... Pat just played it, man."

          WHEN SURTAIN ARRIVED at the Broncos' facility after being selected with the No. 9 pick, players like former Broncos safeties Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson said he was, in Jackson's words, "like a 10-year vet."

          Jackson, in his 14th NFL season, said last season that he "still may not be [as] level-headed," as Surtain. And Simmons, now with the Atlanta Falcons, said he knew in his first position meeting with Surtain that he was a player "who knew exactly why he was there and what he wanted to do."

          Bailey agrees. "You can see he puts the work in," he said. "All he cares about is being the greatest. Most corners know what they should do, but doing that consistently, every day, every time, that's just hard to do. ... This dude here, he displays that focus every time he lines up."

          Bailey talked to many young corners during his 10 seasons in Denver (2004-13). Surtain's approach and mindset when he first met the Hall of Famer stood out to Bailey.

          "He just asks questions, he doesn't say a whole lot. But when he says things, he has purpose," Bailey said. "He can have all the success in the world without talking to somebody like me, but you can see he takes opportunities to ask questions to people."

          Wright played his last game for the Broncos in 1986, but the 71-year-old still watches the team each week. But Wright and the other iconic Denver corners say it's different when they look at Surtain.

          "I've been at the games and I watch him, watch everything he does, how he competes and plays and how he thinks it," Wright said. "He's the best player on that field or almost any other field he'll ever be on. I know that's a lot to say about a youngster, but I love to watch that young man play football."

          "Pat has that maturity in all things," Harris added. "He walks out for the coin flip like an All-Pro."