Soon after finishing his drop-back, Seattle reserve quarterback Alex McGough knew he had nothing.
Left receiver: Covered by cornerback Ronald Darby.
Right receiver: Blanketed by cornerback Kyle Fuller.
McGough pump-faked and held the football … and held it … and held it until Broncos outside linebacker Bradley Chubb completed the coverage sack in 4.39 seconds.
The Broncos hope that play in their Aug. 21 preseason game against the Seahawks serves as Exhibit A for their flip-the-script plan defensively. Play so tight in man coverage that Chubb, Von Miller and Co., can create consistent pressure on quarterbacks.
“We can be great,” said Darby, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Broncos in March. “We have veteran players. We have speed. We have smarts. We can be really special.”
Playing in a division where six of their 17 games are against Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes (Super Bowl champion, NFL MVP), Las Vegas’ Derek Carr (career 65.5 completion rate against the Broncos) and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert (an emerging franchise passer), the Broncos knew they needed to upgrade their cornerback position.
Enter veteran players Darby and Fuller, who ran as the Nos. 1-2 cornerbacks throughout training camp.
Enter the return from injury of Bryce Callahan, the nickel back who was the Broncos’ best cover man until he was shut down in late November (foot).
And enter the drafting of Pat Surtain II with the ninth overall pick.
“All those dudes are high caliber,” said Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton, who challenged himself against the cornerbacks every day in practice.
And to end the team’s five-year playoff drought, those players must play high-caliber from Game 1 to Game 17.
The cornerbacks must stay healthy and must produce more takeaways. Period.
Both have been a problem.
Health: Last year, the Broncos had eight starting cornerbacks (including safety-turned-dime-back Will Parks) and nine played at least 50 snaps as injuries and ineffectiveness tore through the position group.
Production: In coach Vic Fangio’s two years, the Broncos’ 20 interceptions are tied for 25th in the NFL and more alarmingly, only four of those takeaways were by cornerbacks.
Not wanting a repeat of last year when they literally ran out of cornerbacks, the Broncos stockpiled at the position.
“You can’t have too many guys,” defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said. “The first thing when you put a bunch of talent together is you want to know how they fit together. Whatap the chemistry? Whatap the harmony? Thatap been fantastic. Everybody has been working together and connecting.”
General manager George Paton was proactive at the start of free agency, making Darby, formerly of Buffalo, Philadelphia and Washington, his first free-agent addition. Hours later, Fuller was released by Chicago and snapped up by the Broncos to be reunited with Fangio and Donatell, who coached him with the Bears. The final addition was Surtain, with Paton so confident in the Alabama product’s skills that he passed on quarterback Justin Fields.
Darby and Fuller are outside cornerbacks, equally effective in man and zone coverage.
Callahan is regarded as one of the league’s best slot cover men.
And Surtain? Well, he could be the best of the group sooner rather than later.
What the depth gives Fangio is options, something he didn’t have last year.
The Broncos could play more “dime” personnel, getting all four cornerbacks on the field with safeties Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson. Surtain is the key to that package because of his versatility to play inside and outside.
“The No. 1 draft picks we’ve coached in the past, we’ve never quite asked a guy to do this much,” Donatell said. “We want to get him on the field. He has multiple talents so we can fit him in. Itap a unique situation. In most cases, there’s a major need at (outside) corner and the guy just goes to that one spot.”
The potential of the Broncos’ cornerbacks was apparent against Seattle, but also during training camp practices. The offense was often flummoxed in red zone and move-the-ball situations, when it was up to the cover men to lock down their assignment. The sight of Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock scrambling and tossing a pass out of bounds became semi-common.
“I don’t think there are going to be too many (cornerback corps) that I’ll go against that will be as stacked as ours,” Sutton said.
If veterans Darby, Fuller and Callahan can stay healthy and Surtain is the quick study he appears to be, the Broncos can return to the top five in pass defense for the first time since 2017.
“The expectations are very high,” Callahan said. “You see the depth. We have all of the guys. And to be the best in the league, itap up to us to execute the calls and just prove what everybody else is thinking.”
Wanted: More takeaways
A look at the Broncos’ takeaways during their current five-year playoff drought (2016-20) and since coach Vic Fangio was hired (2019-20):
Last Five Years
| Team | No. | Record | Playoff App. |
| 1 Kansas City | 131 | 60-20 | 5 |
| 2 New England | 127 | 57-23 | 4 |
| 3 Baltimore | 126 | 52-28 | 3 |
| T4 Pittsburgh | 125 | 53-26-1 | 2 |
| T4 Tampa Bay | 125 | 37-43 | 1 |
| T18 Broncos | 105 | 32-48 | 0 |
Past Two Years
| Team | No. | Record | Playoff App. |
| 1. Pittsburgh | 65 | 20-12 | 1 |
| 2. New England | 58 | 19-13 | 1 |
| 3. Seattle | 54 | 23-9 | 2 |
| T4. Minnesota | 53 | 17-15 | 1 |
| T4. Tampa Bay | 53 | 18-14 | 1 |
| T27. Broncos | 33 | 12-20 | 0 |
