Von Miller Spills Beans on How Broncos Plan to Use Rookie CB Patrick Surtain II
After a 2020 campaign fraught with issues at cornerback, the Denver Broncos are now stacked at the position. With the arrival of free agents Kyle Fuller and Ronald Darby, the Broncos tripled-down by also using their first-round pick on Alabama's star Patrick Surtain II.
Since Surtain arrived in the Mile High City, rumor and speculation have abounded on how the Broncos will ultimately use him, especially considering the team's projected starting trio at corner, including Bryce Callahan in the slot Fuller and Darby on the boundary.
The most common rumor being that head coach Vic Fangio plans to use Surtain in a 'star' role, which basically means moving him around the defensive backfield at multiple positions. In such a role, Surtain could be used as a match-up ace-in-the-hole to be deployed one-on-one against opposing tight ends.
However, it was Von Miller who spilled the beans on what Fangio plans to do tactically with his shiny new toy, confirming the tight end thing.
"Pat Surtain, he's going to be on [Chiefs TE Travis] Kelce and [Raiders TE Darren] Waller and all those guys," Miller said back on August 25.
On Thursday, Fangio was confronted with Miller's revelation by local press and the defensive czar actually confirmed the revelation with one small caveat.
“It’s possible. It depends upon what coverage we're in and how we plan to match it up on each and every week," Fangio said of Surtain. "He's true in what he's saying and accurate, but it may not always be that way.”
The Broncos have struggled for years to stop athletic pass-catching tight ends. That plight has only intensified of late with the emergence of Darren Waller in Las Vegas. Facing Kansas City's Travis Kelce twice a year was tough enough but now the Broncos' defense will draw four of its games against All-Pro tight ends within the AFC West.
If lining up the long, 6-foot-2, 202-pound Surtain against these elite tight ends can mitigate their production on gameday even a little bit, it would go a long way toward justifying the top-10 pick the Broncos spent on him. However, knowing what we do about Surtain, there's reason to believe he'll do more than just chip away at these tight ends and maybe even shut them down.
A similar tactic worked to stunning success for the New England Patriots back in 2013 when Bill Belichick opted to assign Aqib Talib to shadow then-New Orleans Saints' tight end Jimmy Graham. Talib shut Graham down.
Surprisingly, despite the obvious success of Belichick's tactic, lining a boundary corner up against a tight end hasn't been duplicated successfully by other NFL teams, let alone tried all that much. Why?
Because above-average cornerbacks are in short supply in the NFL so teams keep them on the boundary in fear of being exploited by explosive wideouts. Defensive coordinators would rather roll the dice on a tight end getting the ball a few times than risk taking a top corner off a dynamic wideout.
In Denver, Fangio has a little more breathing room to try other tactics thanks to the team's depth at corner. Although Fangio would probably rather Miller hadn't offered up that Surtain-on-the-tight-end info so freely and during training camp, now that the cat's out of the bag, it'll be interesting to see how the rookie measures up against the NFL's elite players at the position.
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