Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II was named the 2024 AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year at NFL Honors on Thursday night.
Surtain finished voting tallying 26 first-place votes and 330 points, with Bengals pass rusher Trey Hendrickson behind him with 205 points. Last season's winner, Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett, placed third with 162. Steelers pass rusher T.J. Watt (114) and Eagles linebacker Zack Baun (63) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Surtain becomes just the second defensive back to win the award since 2010, joining Stephon Gilmore, who won it at the end of his 2019 season with the New England Patriots. Visiting "Surtain Island" has been a lonely experience for receivers during most of Surtain's four NFL seasons, but it was even more remote in 2024, his finest season to date.
In order for a cornerback to take home the award, they need to make enough big plays to attract voters, but that's hard to do when most teams avoid throwing their way. Surtain somehow did both in 2024, coming up only one vote shy of being an unanimous selection for first-team All-Pro honors.
Surtain intercepted four passes, with 11 passes defended, a forced fumble, a recovery and a tackle for loss in 16 starts. Two of those picks came against the Raiders, with Surtain running one of them back 100 yards for a touchdown in the 34-18 victory in Week 5.
Yet his opportunities to make plays this past season were as limited as anyone at his position. According to Next Gen Stats, Surtain was targeted on only 10.9% of his coverage snaps this season -- the lowest rate among 83 cornerbacks with 300 or more coverage snaps.
Surtain also didn't allow receivers to catch many of those targets. He gave up only 306 receiving yards as the nearest defender across 516 coverage snaps, translating to 0.6 yards per coverage snap, which was the second-fewest among the same group of cornerbacks.
And Surtain wasn't just covering anybody. He was going against the best of the best virtually every time out. He guarded the likes of DK Metcalf, Mike Evans, Garrett Wilson, Jakobi Meyers, Jerry Jeudy, Ja’Marr Chase and more -- and Surtain didn't allow more than 50 receiving yards in a single game this season.
Surtain was adept in man coverage, which is viewed as his superpower. However, he was just as adept in zone, allowing a mere 46.6 passer rating -- the lowest mark allowed among cornerbacks with at least 20 such targets as the nearest defender in coverage, via NGS.
This was exactly what was expected out of Surtain, the son of the former Chiefs and Dolphins cornerback who racked up 37 regular-season INTs in a terrific, 11-year career. The younger Surtain, 24, was selected ninth overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, earning Pro Bowl mention each of the previous two seasons and first-team All-Pro honors back in 2022, as well. Denver rewarded Surtain with a four-year, $96 million extension in September, and he followed up with his finest season yet.
The Broncos made their first playoff appearance since 2015, beating the Chiefs in Week 18 to break the decade-long drought. Surtain was a major part of the team's success, leading the way on a defense that ranked top 10 in many categories, including points allowed (third fewest) and yards allowed (seventh).
Surtain is the first Bronco to win the award since linebacker Randy Gradishar -- the leader of the "Orange Crush" defense -- took it home back in 1978.
