Denver cornerback Pat Surtain II was recognized by his peers Wednesday when he was voted All-Pro in a first-ever endeavor by the NFL Players Association.
The NFLPA polled active players around the league, who voted for the position that they play and also the positions they go up against directly. The league’s cornerbacks and wide receivers, then, voted Surtain and Philadelphia’s Darius Slay as the two best corners in the game.
Surtain, a second-year pro, was also named a Pro Bowl starter this season.
A 2021 first-round pick out of Alabama, Surtain has quickly established himself as an elite player. For wide swaths of the 2022 season, opposing offenses barely bothered to test him in coverage.
He logged two interceptions late in the season, one against Kansas City on Dec. 11 and another the following week against Arizona.
“He plays at such a high speed that it almost looks easy,” interim head coach Jerry Rosburg said late in the season. “Thatap probably the most difficult position on the field. … We all understand what a shutdown corner is, and how important that is to a scheme and the concept of forming a football team, and he does it with great panache.”
The AFC West was well-represented on the list of 29 players overall. Those that made the All-Pro team: Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, interior defensive lineman Chris Jones and punter Tommy Townsend, Las Vegas running back Josh Jacobs and wide receiver Davante Adams and Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James.
Jeudy wins weekly honor: Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy on Wednesday was named the AFC’s Week 18 offensive player of the week. The third-year pass-catcher logged a career-best 154 receiving yards in a 31-28 win over the Los Angeles Chargers and also had three carries for 39 yards for 193 total scrimmage yards.
Jeudy finished the season with career bests in receiving yards (972) and catches (67) despite missing most of three games with an ankle injury. He is the first Broncos wide receiver to win the weekly AFC award since Week 7 of the 2018 season when Emmanuel Sanders caught a 64-yard touchdown and threw a 28-yard touchdown to Courtland Sutton.
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