Denver Broncos: Selection of Patrick Surtain II could shake up bottom of depth chart
With the selection of cornerback Patrick Surtain II in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos add a physical cornerback.
It’s a smart move to add a cornerback early in the draft, especially with the short-term contracts signed by Kyle Fuller and Ronald Darby this offseason.
Essang Bassey, Michael Ojemudia, Nate Hairston, Duke Dawson, Parnell Motley, Kevin Toliver, De’Vante Bausby and Chris Cooper are the other cornerbacks on the roster.
We know that Fuller, Darby, Ojemudia and Surtain are locks to make the roster. What about the other three?
Bausby was a player who was inactive several weeks not due to injury, but because he is not the best at tackling. Tackling is a must in Vic Fangio’s defense when it comes
I would figure that Dawson has an upper-hand in terms of sticking around with the Broncos due to his ability to not only play cornerback, but safety as well. Versatility is key when it comes to the NFL, and particularly Vic Fangio’s defense.
To be honest, the additions of the cornerbacks in free agency could have made one of the cornerbacks lower on the depth chart candidates to be let go by the team. This could potentially make it a sure thing.
Even though cornerback wasn’t considered to be the team’s biggest need in the 2021 NFL Draft, it’s a smart move because we don’t know if Bryce Callahan will return as the type of player that he can be after he suffered a foot injury in 2019 and continued to struggle with injury in 2020.
As the saying goes, you can never have too many cornerbacks.
One pick prior to the Broncos’ selection of Surtain II, the Carolina Panthers selected Jaycee Horn, making him the first cornerback off the board. It will be very fascinating to watch both players’ careers going forward to see who made the better selection.