The 2022 Denver Broncos season didn’t pan out how anybody expected. Despite finishing the season 5-12, which players were the team’s MVP, offensive player of the year, defensive player of the year, and more?
MHS Denver Broncos Season Awards
Most Valuable Player: Patrick Surtain II
Looking back on the 2022 Denver Broncos season, Patrick Surtain II was the easy choice for the team’s most valuable player. His on-field play speaks for itself, enough to the point he received first-team All-Pro honors from his peers in the NFLPA’s first-ever played-led All-Pro voting.
Patrick Surtain II is that dude. 6’2 200+ pound corners shouldn’t be able to transition like this. pic.twitter.com/nCfg3fzMYM
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) October 2, 2022
The Broncos second-year cornerback has continued to exceed expectations as a former first-round pick, serving as a neutralizer against some of the NFL’s top wide receivers. He also played and started in every game for the Broncos this season and turned in consistency every week. While some folks continue to argue that Denver should have drafted a quarterback in 2021, Surtain’s level of dominance has more value for where the franchise is currently at. He is the Broncos’ most valuable player for 2022.
Offensive Player of the Year: Jerry Jeudy
Jerry Jeudy emerged in a big way for the Denver Broncos in 2022 despite not being the focal point of the offense through the first part of the season. While the Broncos’ offense struggled as a whole this past season, Jeudy proved that he is their most dangerous playmaker within the offensive scheme which can and will lead to other guys finding success going forward.
JERRY. JEUDY.
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/s6sV4BFsRT
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) January 8, 2023
To put things into perspective from a production standpoint, the Broncos’ third-year wide receiver caught 67 passes on 100 targets. Out of the 100 targets he saw, he only had five dropped passes on the year, shutting down the low-hanging fruit narrative that all he does is drop passes. Of the 67 passes that Jeudy hauled in this season from quarterbacks, Russell Wilson and Brett Rypien, 41 of those catches moved the chains for a first down. The answer to the Broncos’ questions about creating explosive plays on offense begins and ends with number 10.
Jeudy finished the year with career highs in receiving yards (972), catches (67), touchdowns (6), and surpassed 1,000 total yards from scrimmage. Had Jerry been made a focal point of the offense at earlier parts of the season and not missed three games, he very well could have amassed over 10 touchdowns this season and 1000 yards receiving. He’s the easy choice for offensive player of the year.
Defensive Player of the Year: Justin Simmons
If somebody were to say that Justin Simmons would miss five games for the Denver Broncos this season and still come away with the league lead in interceptions while also forcing more turnovers than any other defensive player in the NFL they’d be crazy, right?
That was the reality for Simmons and the Broncos this season. After suffering an injury in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks, the Broncos’ safety was placed on short-term injured reserve, sidelining him for four weeks. He’d miss one more game later on in the year, but when he was on the field for the Broncos’ defense, he was everything they needed and more.
🥊🥊🥊🥊@jsimms1119 | 📺: CBS
pic.twitter.com/EZwZ7zlhU4— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) January 8, 2023
Not only did Simmons finish the year tied for the league lead in interceptions with six, but he also forced three fumbles this season and recovered one, accounting for 10 total takeaways for the Broncos this season. It’s wild to imagine what the Broncos All-Pro safety would have accomplished had he not missed five games. Some highlight performances that stand out include two games where he had 2+ interceptions against the Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals. He always has a nose for where the football is.
In the Broncos Week 18 season finale, Simmons dislodged two footballs from Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler and wide receiver DeAndre Carter, both of which were recovered by Denver and fueled them to a victory. This was an easy choice for the Broncos’ defensive player of the year.
Special Teams Player of the Year: Alex Singleton
Special teams are such an important element in the National Football League and it often gets overlooked by high-scoring offenses and stifling defenses. For the Denver Broncos, their special teams unit struggled to find consistency in some of the most important metrics including kick return average. However, Denver was better with their kick coverage and punt coverage in 2022 and a large part was due to the impact of Alex Singleton.
The play that set up that TD … @alexsingleton49 stays making plays all over the field. 🔥
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/CUAP53dLmO
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) January 1, 2023
Singleton emerged as a big-time contributor for the Broncos defensively, starting 12 games and playing in all 17 games this year. The Broncos’ first-year player surpassed any and all expectations of him entering the season by a landslide. He finished the year with a team-high 163 tackles while playing on nearly every major special teams unit.
Coach of the Year: Ejiro Evero, Christian Parker
Coaching was bittersweet for the Denver Broncos in 2022 when it comes to analyzing how the team performed. Coming into this season, the Broncos coaching staff had many questions due to their combined lack of experience across the board. Nathaniel Hackett was a first-year head coach and Ejiro Evero was a first-year defensive coordinator. Hackett was fired 15 games into his tenure, while Evero and the Broncos’ defense shined bright.
Denver’s defense finished as one of the NFL’s top defensive units in points per game allowed, red zone efficiency, third down percentage, and yards per play. Evero took Vic Fangio’s defensive scheme and added more shine to it with a more aggressive approach to generating pressure. On top of that, Denver’s secondary shined in a big way under defensive backs coach Christian Parker. Parker is heating up amongst league circles as a potential defensive coordinator name to watch in the next two seasons, and how he coaches and teaches is evident when watching how the Denver secondary plays.
Both Evero and Parker deserve co-coach of the year consideration for the Broncos.
Rookies of the Year: Damarri Mathis and Greg Dulcich
Without an initial first-round pick this past NFL Draft, the Broncos’ offensive and defensive rookie of the year selections came from third-round rookie tight end Greg Dulcich and fourth-round rookie cornerback Damarri Mathis. Despite missing the first part of the season and the final few games, Dulcich demonstrated why he could grow into a lethal player on the offensive side of the ball. He finished the year with 33 receptions for 411 yards and two receiving touchdowns. His ability to get open and tendency to attack soft spots against zone and man coverage allowed him to thrive despite a nagging hamstring.
Mathis emerged as a reliable playmaker for the Broncos secondary, proving early on that he deserves to be a starter in the NFL. After Ronald Darby’s season-ending injury, Mathis stepped in opposite of All-Pro Patrick Surtain. He appeared in 16 games this season and started in 11 of them. The Broncos’ rookie cornerback finished the season with 65 tackles and seven passes defensed. Mathis will likely be the team’s starter next season as well.