• Stepping up when it issues: Surtain loved a profession yr in Denver, incomes an 87.4 protection grade and permitting simply 0.53 yards per cowl snap.
• Profiting from his alternatives: Surtain’s exceptional 2024 marketing campaign noticed him largely averted by opposing quarterbacks, as he was focused simply 52 instances all through the season. Regardless of this, he recorded 4 interceptions, boasting a formidable 7.7% interception fee per goal — the second-best mark within the NFL.
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Estimated studying time: 4 minutes
PFF’s award winners are chosen by way of a voting course of unique to twenty-eight senior analysts, contributors and members of the PFF workers, guaranteeing the choices replicate the insights and experience of these deeply concerned within the sport.
This yr’s Finest Protection Defender is Pat Surtain II, who earned 21 votes to say the dignity. The runner-up was Trent McDuffie, with three votes. Kerby Joseph acquired two votes, whereas Kyle Hamilton and Christian Gonzalez every acquired one vote.
To view all 2024 award winners, click on right here.
Heading into the 2024 season, the Denver Broncos protection was thought-about a weak point of the group. The reminiscence of surrendering 70 factors to the Miami Dolphins early within the 2023 season loomed giant, and whereas the unit confirmed enchancment because the yr went on, a number of vulnerabilities remained.
Quick ahead to the tip of 2024, and the Broncos protection had reworked into one of many NFL’s greatest. The cornerstone of that exceptional turnaround was the play of cornerback Pat Surtain II, whose dominance in protection served as the important thing catalyst for his or her resurgence.
Pat Surtain II: Grades by sport in 2024
Incomes the PFF award for the most effective protection defender within the NFL, Surtain loved a profession yr in Denver, incomes an 87.4 protection grade and permitting simply 0.53 yards per cowl snap.
Surtain’s PFF protection grade was the very best of any cornerback in the course of the 2024 common season. He additionally ranked second in PFF’s newly launched Superior Protection Grade, trailing solely Kansas Metropolis’s Trent McDuffie.
Tasked with shadowing among the NFL’s greatest extensive receivers, the Broncos star rose to the event. His 75.6 protection grade in man- or zone-match protection ranked second within the league.
He additionally showcased his dominance in zone protection, incomes a 90.2 grade — the third-best mark within the NFL. His spectacular efficiency included three interceptions, an distinctive 0.33 yards allowed per protection snap, and simply 78 whole yards surrendered into his protection zone.
One among his standout moments got here in Week 5 vs the Las Vegas Raiders. The Broncos had been down 10-3 in the midst of the second quarter. The Raiders had the ball on the Broncos’ 5-yard line, threatening to make it a two-score sport towards a rookie quarterback nonetheless acclimating to the NFL sport.
A 100 YARD PICK 6!! @PatSurtainll pic.twitter.com/Xh3CG05U9J
— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2024
The fourth-year nook then made the play of the sport, selecting off quarterback Gardner Minshew and taking it again 100 yards to fully change the tide of the sport.
Surtain wasn’t performed there, as he added a second interception within the fourth quarter, successfully shutting down any hope of a Raiders comeback. He capped off his dominant efficiency with an elite 92.1 PFF protection grade for the sport.
Pat Surtain II: Secure metrics and percentile rank amongst cornerbacks
| Metric | Percentile |
| Protection Grade | 98th |
| Protection Grade w/no Strain | 98th |
| Protection Grade on Passes | 98th |
| Protection Grade in Single Protection | 66th |
| Protection Grade at Exterior CB | 97th |
| Protection Grade within the Slot | 78th |
| Compelled Incompletion Share | 69th |
Surtain’s exceptional 2024 marketing campaign noticed him largely averted by opposing quarterbacks, as he was focused simply 52 instances all through the season. Regardless of this, he recorded 4 interceptions, boasting a formidable 7.7% interception fee per goal — the second-best mark within the NFL. Much more putting was his capacity to remove large performs, permitting simply six completions of 15 or extra yards for an unbelievable 1% explosive play fee.
Difficult Surtain II for the title of the league’s greatest protection defender was Kansas Metropolis’s Trent McDuffie, who topped PFF’s Superior Protection Grade and Lockdown Charge metrics. McDuffie additionally ranked second in optimistic grade fee, fourth in conventional protection grade and sixth in SCOE.
Finally, voters credited Surtain II’s elite capacity and his pivotal function in Denver’s defensive turnaround because the deciding components in awarding him PFF’s Finest Protection Defender for 2024.
