Pat Surtain II makes history, wins major award for standout season
Feb 6, 2025, 7:17 PM | Updated: 7:19 pm
Pat Surtain II had a goal and he accomplished it; be the National Football League’s Defensive Player of the Year.
The Denver Broncos’ stud cornerback won the award at NFL Honors on Thursday night in New Orleans ahead of Super Bowl LIX.
After becoming the highest-paid defensive back ever in September with a four-year, $96 million extension, PS2 joined an elite class of players in the defensive backfield. He’s just the seventh corner to win the Associated Press’ DPOY and the third since Deion Sanders won it in 1994. The six in the past are Stephon Gilmore in 2019, Charles Woodson in 2009, Prime Time in 1994, Rod Woodson in 1993, Lester Hayes in 1980, and Mel Blount in 1975.
In 2024, Surtain allowed 37 receptions, made four interceptions, and held quarterbacks to a 58.9 passer rating on 62 times he was targeted this season, as calculated by SportRadar.com. The worst QB in the league’s rating is Anthony Richardson at 61.6, meaning Surtain turns everyone throwing his way into the worst passer in the league when they throw over there. Pro Football Focus also rated PS2 as the best-graded cornerback in the NFL this past fall.
“It’s pretty special for sure,” Surtain told reporters last month for just being in the conversation for DPOY. “Just the work I put in, obviously it was a goal that I had in mind, but that’s not my main goal. My main goal is to continue to be the best version of myself to help this team win. [Help them] get to that next step, which is playoffs and hopefully get to that Super Bowl run. We have bigger goals in mind, but to be mentioned in a high regard with other great defenders around the league means a lot.”
After the season ended PS2 shared that one of his goals was DPOY, clarifying that and he saying he wrote it down before the season began.
Surtain already had collected two defensive-player-of-the-year awards. The first was for the AFC alone, bestowed by the Kansas City-based Committee of 101. The second was a league-wide honor, the NFL defensive-player-of-the-year award given by the Pro Football Writers of America.
Surtain hasn’t quite had a clean sweep of the 2024 honors. Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett earned the defensive-player honors handed out by Pro Football Focus. Garrett finished third place for the AP DPOY, with Trey Hendrickson between the two.
AP Defensive Player of the Year voting:
Patrick Surtain II 26-11-2-4-1: 330
Trey Hendrickson 11-10-9-8-2: 205
Myles Garrett 5-11-12-8-5: 162
T.J. Watt 3-7-8-11-3: 114
Zack Baun 2-2-6-5-5: 63
Kerby…— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) February 7, 2025
The Broncos used PS2’s dominance on the outside to send more rushers at quarterbacks, leading the league in sacks. It was a big part of Denver’s turnaround that resulted in a return to the postseason and a 10-7 record.
Surtain is the first Broncos DPOY since eventual Hall of Famer Randy Gradishar earned the honor in 1978.
