The Denver Broncos had a historically great season at cornerback in 2024, but is the outlook for the position just as strong as we turn our eyes toward the 2025 season? Let’s look.
Pat Surtain II
How Did 2024 Go For Them?
Pat Surtain II just became the third cornerback in the past 30 years, since Deion Sanders did it in 1994, to win Defensive Player of the Year at the position.
Champ Bailey and Darrelle Revis each turned in one of the greatest seasons we’ve ever seen from any defensive player period, let alone any cornerback, and neither took home that coveted piece of hardware.
Pat Surtain II had that DPOY chain READY 🧊🧊🧊 pic.twitter.com/LbXnFOsEUc
— RG 📷 (@RyanGreeneDNVR) February 7, 2025
It is one of the greatest seasons by any player in the history of the franchise, and even the history of the entire league, because it is just that rare of an accomplishment.
It’s such a remarkable achievement that now, just four years into his NFL career, Surtain is a near lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If he gets one more first-team All-Pro nod, which feels like it’s only a matter of time, he will have a resume so strong that it would literally be unprecedented for him to not be immortalized in Canton.
Grade: A+
What Needs To Be Addressed This Offseason?
Literally nothing. There are no questions about how good the player is, and Surtain’s freshly signed contract extension makes his future with the team a certainty as well.
Surtain II at the bottom of the screen pic.twitter.com/RNTSvRbpP0
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) September 18, 2024
If you really wanted to reach for one, the only thing to monitor is Surtain’s disposition as the cornerback market skyrockets.
He is far and away the best player at his position, and if it irks him that he isn’t the highest-paid at his position, that could cause problems for Denver. That said, there’s no reason to believe that’s a problem.
What Should the Denver Broncos Do?
The Broncos need to take a page out of the Philadelphia Eagles playbook here.
The Eagles are famous for extending their top players early and saving money against the cap as a result. However, the less discussed yet equally important part of that equation is that their front office is also happy to reward their best players by doling out pay raises, even when they don’t have to.
Look at their extension with Saquon Barkley. They had all the leverage and team control to keep Barkley on the contract he signed with the team just last offseason, but they chose to offer him a new deal with a higher salary, all in the name of team culture.
That’s an extreme example, and Denver doesn’t have to go that far, but they also shouldn’t be cheap when it comes time to keep their franchise legend happy.
Riley Moss
How Did 2024 Go For Them?
If not for the knee injury and his shaky play following it, Riley Moss’s first season in the starting lineup would earn an “A+” without any doubt.
Before spraining his MCL in the road victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, Moss was one of just 11 corners to allow less than 60 percent of his targets to be completed. He also allowed the 13th-worst passer rating when targeted and had just one touchdown scored on him during those first 12 weeks.
I love when the #Broncos allow Riley Moss to ‘jam’ at the LOS. He plays a ton of press alignment where he mirrors and reacts because of his speed, but he also has an effective punch. pic.twitter.com/83LkNOa8ML
— Cody Roark (@CodyRoarkNFL) March 31, 2025
Those details are only made more impressive by the fact that Surtain’s elite coverage opposite Moss led to the second-year Hawkeye being the 12th-most frequently targeted cornerback in the league, yet he still held up.
Now, there’s no denying that he wasn’t the same after his injury. He was picked on by the Buffalo Bills in the Broncos’ playoff matchup, and Tee Higgins thoroughly abused him in his first game back from injury.
That said, we’re talking a tiny sample of just two games against starters, and it’s a sample that Moss was rushed back for, as Denver’s playoff hopes were hanging in the balance. Plus, we’re talking about a cornerback, probably the most mobility-dependent position in the sport, returning from a sprained MCL in a few short weeks to try and guard the NFL’s best No. 2 receiver, therefore making it the toughest matchup he faced in his entire career, injury aside.
The 12 weeks of lockdown play is likely a far more accurate representation of the player than the two games he played on a sprained MCL against nuclear aerial arsenals. Those weeks represent a flaw that prevents his first real season from being perfect, but they’re not a cause for concern unless it carries into the 2025 season.
Grade: A
What Needs To Be Addressed This Offseason?
How serious was the MCL sprain and how much damage did Moss’s return to the lineup cause, if any?
As discussed in the previous section, we’ve already seen a lot of the pre-injury version of Riley Moss, and he’s a damn good cornerback.
The only concern lingering into this offseason is whether or not he can return to form in 2025 after his injury.
What Should the Denver Broncos Do?
Now, it should be noted this is an MCL sprain and not a torn patellar tendon or torn ACL. That’s not to say that it isn’t serious or something worth monitoring, but there’s no real case of an MCL sprain being a career-altering or career-ruining injury.
Nonetheless, with Moss being such a valuable part of this team’s future vision, they should make sure they’re careful with his rehabilitation and return to the lineup.
Ja’Quan McMillian
How Did 2024 Go For Them?
After breaking out in 2023, Ja’Quan McMillian solidified his starting job as the team’s nickel cornerback in 2024 and continued to build on his impressive play.
McMillian was an impact player for the Denver Broncos’ stingy defense, both when defending the run and when dropping back in coverage.
The third-year undrafted free agent broke up 10 passes, forced a fumble, and nabbed two interceptions, one of which he returned for a game-clinching pick-six in a must-win primetime game against the Cleveland Browns.
MCMILLIAN PICK-SIX TO POSSIBLY ICE IT.
— NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2024
📺: #CLEvsDEN on ESPN
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/byTyDJ5y47
Among 33 qualifying slot cornerbacks, McMillian allowed the 11th-lowest passer rating.
He also registered four tackles for loss and 81 total takedowns.
One area McMillian struggled with was finishing his tackles. Despite being such a sticky player in coverage, McMillian allowed the most yards after the catch of any slot defender this season and allowed the 10th-most yards per coverage snap.
McMillian is still a solid starter and an incredible find, considering how cheap he was to acquire and how much he’s provided the team, but the Broncos might be better off looking for an upgrade than signing him to a long-term deal.
Grade: B-
What Needs To Be Addressed This Offseason?
Is Ja’Quan McMillian part of the team’s long-term plans, and how confident are they in that evaluation?
The Denver Broncos are actively rebuilding their roster, and as they sort through that process, there are much more pressing problems than the insanely cheap mediocre starter at nickel-corner.
Nonetheless, McMillian does project to be the weakest point in the starting secondary now that Talanoa Hufanga is on the team, and, over the next 10 months, they will have to decide whether or not they want to sign him to an extension.
On one hand, although he might be a weak link, he’s still a quality player who could likely be retained for pretty cheap, and keeping him around ensures a pretty high floor for a secondary Denver has invested a lot of assets into.
On the other hand, with two high-end boundary cornerbacks on the roster, whoever is playing the nickel position for the Broncos will see a lot of targets, making it a high-impact role. Why not spring for an upgrade when the player in this role is going to be asked to make a lot of plays for Denver’s defense?
What Should the Denver Broncos Do?
The Denver Broncos should make a reasonable Day 3 investment at nickel-corner, both providing them some injury insurance behind Ja’Quan McMillian in the immediate short-term, and hopefully a future starter in the long-term view.
The top of the position group is remarkably talented, but they have very little depth behind their starters, and that’s especially true in the slot.
McMillian’s play has enough flaws in it that Denver shouldn’t just be looking for a depth option, but a player who also boasts some developmental upside to be an eventual upgrade.
Kris Abrams-Draine
How Did 2024 Go For Them?
Kris Abrams-Draine’s playing time this past season was pretty limited, but what little Broncos Country did see was remarkably promising.
After getting embarrassed through much of their nationally broadcasted bout with the Cleveland Browns, the Denver Broncos finally benched Levi Wallace to throw their rookie cornerback prospect to the proverbial wolves that made up Cleveland’s passing game.
Despite Jameis Winston and Jerry Jeudy’s connection running historically hot so far, Abrams-Draine erased the former Bronco pass-catcher upon entering the lineup.
Over 53 coverage snaps, Wallace was targeted 10 times, allowing six receptions for 154 yards and two touchdowns. During his 12 coverage snaps, was targeted three times, and allowed just one remarkable toe-dragging reception for 14 yards.
That audition was enough to earn Abrams-Draine the starting job for each of the next two weeks, as Riley Moss recovered, and he held up quite well. Over those two starts, opposing quarterbacks went 4-for-12 for 75 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception.
Kris Abrams-Draine with the PBU🤫 https://t.co/wd5M0xDFQs pic.twitter.com/2DQEv7Xq60
— ᴄʜᴀsá´‡ (@BolieveInNix) December 15, 2024
With Abrams-Draine performing so well in that limited sample and offering the versatility to play either in the slot or on the boundary, he could singlehandedly solve the Denver Broncos’ depth problem at cornerback.
Grade: B
What Needs To Be Addressed This Offseason?
Where do the Denver Broncos envision Kris Abrams-Draine playing?
Now, he’s a near lock for the final roster and should even have a solid reserve role, but figuring out their long-term vision for Abrams-Draine will also help them determine just how pressing of a need cornerback is in this year’s draft.
His first year starting at Mizzou, back in 2021, Abrams-Draine was primarily a nickel corner and thrived in the role, before playing almost exclusively on the boundary his next two seasons in Columbia and throughout his rookie campaign in Denver.
If the Broncos still think he can thrive inside, cornerback is a much lesser need for them this offseason and next.
Pat Surtain II is the best cornerback in the sport, Riley Moss was experiencing an elite debut season before his MCL injury, and both are under contract for at least the next two seasons. Denver’s only need on the boundary is for depth, as they have long-term starters solidified, and Abrams-Draine appears to be a high-end reserve option there.
Ja’Quan McMillian, on the other hand, is only under contract for one more season. Now, he’s played very well in his own right, but, prior to Moss’s injury, McMillian was the position’s weak link. They also don’t have a quality backup plan, meaning they need both depth and a long-term plan.
Depending on how confident they are in Abrams-Draine’s positional versatility, that lack of depth behind McMillian is either a sneakily large hole in the defense or a non-factor.
What Should the Denver Broncos Do?
You can never have enough cornerbacks, so investing a Day 3 pick in the position would probably be smart.
Although Abrams-Draine’s rookie year was promising, so was Damarri Mathis’s, and he demonstrated his solid play over a much larger sample.
Hopefully the Broncos have experimented enough in practice to have a solid idea of how much Abrams-Draine’s positional versatility can help them, but either way, he shouldn’t be the only other card up their sleeve.
Damarri Mathis
How Did 2024 Go For Them?
After starting 11 games for the Denver Broncos in his rookie season, Mathis’s role with the team has rapidly shrunk, from 795 defensive snaps in 2022 and 438 in 2023 to a mere 80 snaps in 2024.
Damarri. Mathis.
— Let’s Talk Broncos (Muse) (@TheLTBMuse) October 18, 2024
Lockdown. https://t.co/NfYOxIQSh8 pic.twitter.com/LNnnFKNWvS
Mathis still had plenty of responsibility on special teams, as he saw 122 snaps there. Still, his quickly dwindling snap count suggests his time in Denver could be over, especially when considering that this will be the most expensive year of his rookie contract, and he has almost no guaranteed money left on that deal.
2024 didn’t have any embarrassing pass interference penalties or torchings, like we saw Levi Wallace fall victim to, but that’s only because Mathis was never on the field.
His saving grace might be that Tremon Smith, the team’s other major contributor on special teams from the cornerback position, departed for Houston in free agency.
That said, Mathis isn’t the special teams ace that Smith was, and Denver already signed Trent Sherfield Sr. to help fill that role, so it’ll be hard for Mathis to make his case as a $3.5 million special teams luxury.
Grade: D-
What Needs To Be Addressed This Offseason?
What case can Damarri Mathis make to keep his roster spot?
At this point, the default answer for the Broncos regarding Mathis should simply be to cut him and use the cap savings on a player who will have a greater impact on the team.
The burden of proof will be on Mathis, and he’ll have to prove he’s worthy of the Broncos’ one-year, $3.5 million obligation. With him being buried behind four other cornerbacks, each of whom has proven to be a better NFL defender than the fourth-year Pitt grad, Mathis will probably have to make his case as a lockdown special-teams player.
What Should the Denver Broncos Do?
They should cut Damarri Mathis.
He saw 80 defensive snaps last season, and it’s likely that either Reese Taylor or Quinton Newsome could have delivered similar levels of play for a much cheaper rate, and the Broncos would be able to benefit from their play, as they have more team control over both Taylor and Newsome than they do Mathis.
This team could also really use that extra cap space to make a few minor adjustments to their roster to better insulate themselves from injury disasters and raise the team’s floor.
That’s a much wiser use of $3.5 million than one year of an okay special-teamer you actively don’t trust to do anything on offense or defense.
Reese Taylor
How Did 2024 Go For Them?
Few players dropped more jaws and elicited more cheers throughout the Denver Broncos training camp than Reese Taylor.
Taylor racked up several impressive interceptions as a collection of fans watched on from the berm looking over Broncos Park, but he struggled to carry that production into the preseason and was relegated to the practice squad as a result.
Later on in the season, though, Reese Taylor got to make his NFL regular season debut, as he played 13 special teams snaps against the Indianapolis Colts.
That call-up suggests that he’s got a leg up on Quinton Newsome in the cornerback room, and with Damarri Mathis’ roster spot up for grabs, that’s a meaningful advantage to have.
Taylor being a regular special teams contributor for the Broncos in 2025 is a very realistic outcome.
Grade: C+
What Needs To Be Addressed This Offseason?
Has Reese Taylor shown enough to make Denver feel comfortable about moving on from Damarri Mathis?
Last season, the Broncos felt that developing Mathis was still their best option, and outside of Mathis’ contract, nothing has changed in an impactful way.
After the Colts game, Taylor returned right back to the practice squad, while Mathis continued getting snaps on special teams.
Now that the Broncos have a financial incentive to make a swap, will another strong offseason from Taylor be enough to make them feel differently?
What Should the Denver Broncos Do?
This is going to become a stale point at the end of this article, but they should cut Damarri Mathis.
Just last installment, we discussed the need to add another linebacker to the room. With the savings from waiving Mathis, they could easily make that signing and have some dough left over too.
Plus, that’s far from the only move the Broncos could make for that $3.5 million that would actually impact the roster in a positive way.
Quinton Newsome
How Did 2024 Go For Them?
After signing with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent soon after the 2024 NFL Draft, Quinton Newsome managed to stick around in Dove Valley for almost the entire season.
He didn’t make the final 53-man roster, but he was an immediate practice-squad signing and spent all but one week of the season on the Broncos’ practice squad.
During his training camp and preseason battles for depth roster spots, Newsome didn’t shine quite as much as Reese Taylor, but he still had his moments, notching five tackles and a pass breakup.
It’s a win that he’s managed to hold onto his roster spot for as long as he has, but he still has an uphill climb ahead of him to maintain his position in 2025. The Denver Broncos only lost Levi Wallace and Tremon Smith from last offseason’s cornerback room, and they’ll likely replace those departures with either a draft pick or a handful of UDFA signings.
If Newsome wants to make any headway towards some actual playing time, he’ll have to stave off those new challengers, and any draft pick will have the inside track on him.
Grade: C
What Needs To Be Addressed This Offseason?
Is Quinton Newsome ready to make an impact in the regular season?
The Broncos will roster five or six cornerbacks, and they only have four that have cemented their roster spots. Damarri Mathis has clearly fallen out of favor, and if Quinton Newsome demonstrates more special teams upside, or is simply a better cornerback, Denver could easily make that swap.
They even have a sizeable incentive to move on, considering the $3.5 million that cutting Mathis would save.
Can Newsome motivate Denver to make that move? We’ll find out in the coming months.
What Should the Denver Broncos Do?
They should cut Mathis and reinvest that money elsewhere on the roster.
Mathis is practically invisible on the roster. Newsome or Taylor replacing him would hardly be noticeable, and even if they were dreadful in their new role, it wouldn’t be enough of a downgrade to spur any regret about cutting Mathis.
