It's still early in his career, but Patrick Surtain II is widely considered one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. In three years, Surtain has been named to two Pro Bowls, and he made the All-Pro first team in 2022. Last season, though, Surtain dropped off the All-Pro teams entirely.
Some people might think that slight was undeserved, but Surtain isn't one of them.
"I wouldn't necessarily say I got snubbed," Surtain said Friday on The Jim Rome Show. "I just think there's a point in time where you've got to ask yourself, was it your standard that you wanted to put out there? I don't think it was the year I wanted to have as far as the standard I set for myself."
Surtain is probably being a bit hard on himself, but if you look at the coverage data from Pro Football Focus, the 2023 campaign was indeed his weakest. He allowed career-highs in catches and yards, intercepted only one pass and took more penalties than he did during his first two seasons combined.
| Year | Rec | Tgt | Yds | TD | INT | PBU | Pen | Rtg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | 85 | 560 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 69.7 |
| 2022 | 41 | 69 | 417 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 84.0 |
| 2023 | 56 | 89 | 701 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 93.9 |
Heading into Year 4, Surtain isn't dwelling on last season, but is instead simply resolved to get better.
"I know I've got some work to do," Surtain said. "Last year wasn't my best year. I know that as a player and as my standard, that wasn't a year I hold myself to. Obviously I made the Pro Bowl, which is a pretty big accomplishment, but I think things that matter is All-Pros for sure, and that's what people are going to look at at the end of the day."
Given his tremendous skill, physicality and athletic ability, as well as his age, it seems highly likely that he will get back to playing at an All-Pro level. That's especially true given that both he and the Broncos defense showed great improvement in the second half of the season: From Week 8 through the end of the season, Surtain allowed just 10 catches for 105 yards on 17 targets, with zero touchdowns. The 76.8 passer rating on passes thrown in his direction was 37.3 points lower than the 114.1 mark he'd allowed up to that point, and fell much more in line with the numbers he'd posted in previous seasons.
