Patrick Surtain II dominates in preseason debut for Broncos

Patrick Surtain II shows why he was deservingly so the right pick at nine and looked superb in preseason debut vs Vikings. 

Yes, it’s just the preseason, but it’s a bit different for the Broncos this year. With the quarterback competition and others fighting for roster spots, these games mean a bit more for Denver, especially for the rookies. Patrick Surtain II put the league on notice today after his performance against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Denver Broncos defeated the Minnesota Vikings 33-6 in the first preseason game of the year and Surtain did not disappoint.

With a lot of criticism of Denver not picking Justin Fields and selecting Surtain instead, the noise has piped down after the beautiful showing he had in his debut.

After playing a quarter and some change, he stated a PBU and an INT returned for a touchdown. According to PFF, Surtain started 11 coverage snaps and allowing zero catches.

Surtain had his PBU in the first quarter with 3:22 left in the first quarter. He jumped an “in route” and broke up the pass. This almost led to an INT from Peter Kalambayi as the ball was in the air for grabs, but Kalambayi could not hold on to the ball.

Surtain would go on to make one of the plays of the game early on in the second quarter with 11:56 left. The Vikings were on 3rd down and needed four yards for a first. Surtain read the quarterback beautifully and broke on the ball.

He jumped the receiver and took it to the house for a pick-six. That’s a great way to have your first ever INT in the NFL. After the pick-six, the rookie was done for the rest of the game and ended on a high note.

Surtain did not disappoint in his debut for the Broncos and played exceptionally well. He physically looked bigger than the “average cornerback” and that is the unique part about him. George Paton and his team have to be ecstatic about what they saw today from the promising rookie.

The front office has been taking criticism all off-season after their selection, but Surtain made sure that there would be no more disapproval of the pick after today.

It’s going to be exciting how Vic Fangio uses Surtain in the regular season. There are going to be so many looks/packages that he can be in and really make a difference for this team. With the depth at cornerback, we can still be seeing a lot of playing time for Surtain.

After the game, Fangio talked about Surtain and said, “He played well and I expect a lot out of him.”

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It’s the preseason but nonetheless, Patrick Surtain II is shaping up to be the player we expected and become the franchise cornerback the Denver Broncos want.