• Stepping up when it matters: Surtain enjoyed a career year in Denver, earning an 87.4 coverage grade and allowing just 0.53 yards per cover snap.

• Making the most of his opportunities: Surtain’s remarkable 2024 campaign saw him largely avoided by opposing quarterbacks, as he was targeted just 52 times throughout the season. Despite this, he recorded four interceptions, boasting an impressive 7.7% interception rate per target — the second-best mark in the NFL.

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Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

PFF’s award winners are selected through a voting process exclusive to 28 senior analysts, contributors and members of the PFF staff, ensuring the decisions reflect the insights and expertise of those deeply involved in the game.

This year’s Best Coverage Defender is Pat Surtain II, who earned 21 votes to claim the honor. The runner-up was Trent McDuffie, with three votes. Kerby Joseph received two votes, while Kyle Hamilton and Christian Gonzalez each received one vote.

To view all 2024 award winners, click here.

Heading into the 2024 season, the Denver Broncos defense was considered a weakness of the team. The memory of surrendering 70 points to the Miami Dolphins early in the 2023 season loomed large, and while the unit showed improvement as the year went on, multiple vulnerabilities remained.

Fast forward to the end of 2024, and the Broncos defense had transformed into one of the NFL’s best. The cornerstone of that remarkable turnaround was the play of cornerback Pat Surtain II, whose dominance in coverage served as the key catalyst for their resurgence.

Pat Surtain II: Grades by game in 2024

Earning the PFF award for the best coverage defender in the NFL, Surtain enjoyed a career year in Denver, earning an 87.4 coverage grade and allowing just 0.53 yards per cover snap.

Surtain’s PFF coverage grade was the highest of any cornerback during the 2024 regular season. He also ranked second in PFF’s newly introduced Advanced Coverage Grade, trailing only Kansas City’s Trent McDuffie.

Tasked with shadowing some of the NFL’s best wide receivers, the Broncos star rose to the occasion. His 75.6 coverage grade in man- or zone-match coverage ranked second in the league.

He also showcased his dominance in zone coverage, earning a 90.2 grade — the third-best mark in the NFL. His impressive performance included three interceptions, an exceptional 0.33 yards allowed per coverage snap, and just 78 total yards surrendered into his coverage zone.

One of his standout moments came in Week 5 vs the Las Vegas Raiders. The Broncos were down 10-3 in the middle of the second quarter. The Raiders had the ball on the Broncos’ 5-yard line, threatening to make it a two-score game against a rookie quarterback still acclimating to the NFL game.

The fourth-year corner then made the play of the game, picking off quarterback Gardner Minshew and taking it back 100 yards to completely change the tide of the game.

Surtain wasn’t done there, as he added a second interception in the fourth quarter, effectively shutting down any hope of a Raiders comeback. He capped off his dominant performance with an elite 92.1 PFF coverage grade for the game.

Pat Surtain II: Stable metrics and percentile rank among cornerbacks

Surtain’s remarkable 2024 campaign saw him largely avoided by opposing quarterbacks, as he was targeted just 52 times throughout the season. Despite this, he recorded four interceptions, boasting an impressive 7.7% interception rate per target — the second-best mark in the NFL. Even more striking was his ability to eliminate big plays, allowing just six completions of 15 or more yards for an incredible 1% explosive play rate.

Challenging Surtain II for the title of the league’s best coverage defender was Kansas City’s Trent McDuffie, who topped PFF’s Advanced Coverage Grade and Lockdown Rate metrics. McDuffie also ranked second in positive grade rate, fourth in traditional coverage grade and sixth in SCOE.

Ultimately, voters credited Surtain II’s elite ability and his pivotal role in Denver’s defensive turnaround as the deciding factors in awarding him PFF’s Best Coverage Defender for 2024.