Patrick Surtain II on potentially winning Defensive Player of the Year: ‘I didn’t expect it so soon’

The widespread expectation is that when the Defensive Player of the Year is announced at next week’s NFL Honors show, the award will go to Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II. Surtain had a terrific season on what was one of the NFL’s best defenses, and it would be a deserved win. 

For the son of longtime NFL corner Patrick Surtain, it’s also a lifelong dream — but one he didn’t think would be realized quite so quickly.

“It was a goal of mine. I always think big. Obviously, this is something I expected, but I didn’t expect it so soon,” Surtain said, via the Denver Post. “You know, I think it is a credit to the work I put in and the season I had. I think if I get it, I deserve it.”

This was just Surtain’s fourth NFL season. He has now made three consecutive Pro Bowls and been named a First Team All-Pro twice, cementing himself as arguably the best corner in the game. Of course, he had a good example to learn from.

“When I watched my dad, I just think he was able to press guys at the line of scrimmage. He shut them down,” Surtain said. “He had a lot of swagger to his game. He was definitely one of those I learned from.”

Surtain also credited defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, and the teammates that played both in front of him and alongside him on the second level of the defense.

“[Joseph’s] whole scheme was set up well with his personnel,” Surtain said. “And we were able to run a variation of coverages with zone pressures and simulated pressures and stuff like that. And obviously our pass rush and front seven were very dominant this year so that helped. In the back end, it allowed us to be more aggressive in the pass game. I don’t think the personnel fit in 2023 on how he wanted to run it, but last year fit perfectly. We obviously have more work to do, but it was a great start.”

That great start should now be expected to include some hardware for the unit’s best player.