Every year, there are players around the league and on just about every team that shine, that play at an MVP-caliber level. Most of the time, quarterbacks are named the MVP of the league, and a major portion of the nominees are quarterbacks too.
To make a fun exercise, NFL.com, lead Draft writer Eric Edholm, wrote an article titled "2023 NFL Season: Predicting each AFC team's non-QB MVP?". In this article, Edholm picked/projected one player from every AFC team to be their 2023-24 season MVP.
For the Denver Broncos he picked a defensive player, an obvious pick for many Broncos fans...
The Broncos traded for Super Bowl champion Sean Payton to be the franchise's head coach, so every offensive player should be benefited from it and should improve, at least from last year. But in this case, Edholm made the safe pick let's say, as he picked First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Surtain II.
In his article, Edholm mentioned the following on why Patrick Surtain II will be the non-quarterback most valuable player in 2023 for the Denver Broncos ...
""Cornerback is a valuable position, no doubt, but is it a team-MVP-type spot? In Surtain's case, we say yes. Somehow, he seems to be underrated, despite following a terrific rookie season (four picks, one returned for a TD, with 14 passes defensed) with an even better 2022 effort (earning Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors) while also being the son of a darned good NFL player. It doesn't make sense, even if the Broncos have been pretty poor the past two seasons.""Eric Edhold, NFL.com
Going into year three, Pat is already a First-Team All-Pro and a Pro Bowl starting cornerback. He got off to a slow start in his rookie year but has proven that he is a top-tier cornerback in the NFL, a true lockdown, and proved why Denver passed on Justin Fields and Mac Jones during the 2021 NFL Draft.
Edholm also said that ...
""The arrival of Sean Payton will help. He will coax more wins out of this team, guaranteed. The TV schedulers seem to agree: They tabbed Denver for four prime-time slots this season. All this will put a bigger spotlight on just how good Surtain is. He also could earn more elite-CB assignments; the new coaching staff has even tinkered with using Surtain as a punt returner. It appears they have big plans for him this season, and it's easy to see why.""Eric Edholm, NFL.com
For you, who will be the 2023 Denver Broncos non-QB MVP?