Broncos Mailbag: Grading Sean Payton’s team through the first four games of the 2024 season
Before Levi Wallace arrived in Denver this offseason as a free agent, he knew the book on Pat Surtain II.
Pro Bowler. All-Pro at a young age. Rock-solid reputation.
When he saw Surtain work first-hand for the first time as his teammate Week 1, he knew all of that didn’t do the Broncos’ best player justice.
“You don’t really know how good he is. You’re like, he made the Pro Bowl, that’s cool, but you don’t really ever get to sit there and (watch),” Wallace told The Denver Post on Wednesday.
“When we played Seattle, I told him, ‘Pat, that’s the first time I’ve ever actually watched you, like, real-deal lock someone down.’ I’ve been around good corners. Obviously (Patrick Peterson) was great during his prime. Tre’Davious (White) had a couple of really good years before his injuries. I’ve been around some really good corners and I feel like I’m a really good corner, too.
“Pat is doing some really, like, crazy things.”
Indeed, it’s been a heck of a month for Surtain. He signed a four-year, $96 million extension the week of Denver’s season opener and he’s been on a dominant stretch since.
Each week, he’s been tasked with mostly traveling with the opposing team’s best player and covering him.
Those guys so far: Seattle’s DK Metcalf, Pittsburgh’s George Pickens, Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans and the New York Jets’ Garrett Wilson.
Surtain, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats and The Post’s tracking, was the closest man in coverage on 87 of the 125 routes those four receivers ran against the Broncos.
He’s allowed seven catches for 75 yards.
The tally with Surtain as the closest man in coverage looks like this:
Metcalf: 24 routes, four targets, three catches, 29 yards
Pickens: 11 routes, two targets, one catch, 16 yards
Evans: 24 routes, one target, one catch, 8 yards
Wilson: 28 routes, three targets, two catches 22 yards
Surtain’s credited with 147 coverage snaps overall and has been targeted all of 11 times.
“It’s not even that he’s doing a whole lot or making a ton of plays. Guys don’t even throw at him,” Wallace said. “It’s a respect thing. That’s impressive when other quarterbacks — you know they’re in a team meeting saying, ‘We know Pat’s following this guy, somebody else has to make plays for us this week.’ He has that respect around the league. So it’s pretty cool to see that other teams have that respect for him. He deserves it. He is truly one of the best corners in the league, if not the best. And he works for it, too.”
Wallace had a play in mind. The Jets had the ball first-and-10 at their own 45 coming out of the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter with a chance to go down and score and win the game. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers hadn’t thrown at Surtain much but tried to get Wilson on a slant. Surtain broke it up easily.
“I think it was his second ball getting thrown at him and he knocks it down on a slant with Garrett …read more
Source:: The Denver Post – Sports
