Pat Surtain II wrote down goal to be Defensive Player of the Year

Denver Broncos star cornerback Pat Surtain II is the favorite to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

The finalists for the award will be announced later this month, with the winner being revealed at the NFL Honors on Feb. 6 in New Orleans.

With the Broncos season now officially over after losing to the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs on Sunday, Monday was “locker room cleanout day” at team headquarters.

Surtain met with the media and was asked about the award, the top honor an NFL defender can receive. Now that the year is finished, will he start thinking about it?

“Yeah, why not? I mean, I ain’t go no other choice, but why not be involved in an accolade like that and see what’s going on? If I do end up becoming a finalist, it would be very huge,” Surtain said.

Surtain is a near lock to be a finalist, likely joined by the likes T.J. Watt from the Steelers, Trey Hendrickson from the Bengals and others.

Surtain had four interceptions this year, 11 passes defended a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, which are great numbers in their own right.

But it’s also what Pro Bowl receivers did (or didn’t do) against the Broncos when Surtain was covering them — and what they did versus the Denver defense when he wasn’t.

The @Broncos have faced 5 AFC #ProBowlGames pass catchers: Flowers, Jeudy, Chase, Kelce & Bowers.

Via @NextGenStats:

vs. @PatSurtainll: 92 routes, 16 tgts., 6 rec., 56 yds., 0 TDs, 2 INTs (8.3 rtg.)

vs. all others: 155 routes, 52 tgts., 38 rec., 606 yds., 5 TDs (143.6 rtg.)

— Erich Schubert (@schube13) January 7, 2025

The QB rating being 8.3 when Surtain was on those guys — and 143.6 when he wasn’t — is hard to wrap your mind around. He had that good of a season locking down the likes of Zay Flowers, Jerry Jeudy, Ja’Marr Chase, Travis Kelce and Brock Bowers.

And winning Defensive Player of the Year is something Surtain wanted to do dating back to last summer.

“It’s something that I had a goal written down before the year, so yeah that would be a huge mark, for sure,” Surtain said.

The Broncos wouldn’t have made the playoffs for the first time since 2015 without Pat Surtain II. Now, let’s see if he’s rewarded with an honor that he should take home early next month.

I asked Broncos star cornerback Pat Surtain II now that the season is over if he’ll pay attention to Defensive Player of the Year award. You can tell the honor would mean a lot to him — and rightfully so. It’d be huge. pic.twitter.com/KHpZ8D7yHO

— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) January 13, 2025