One of the toughest positions to play in the NFL is cornerback, and Denver Broncos third-year corner Riley Moss embraced that challenge last season and is excited for even more opportunities coming up this season.
Denver Broncos’ Riley Moss embraces challenge of playing opposite of Patrick Surtain II
When you have the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year playing cornerback opposite of you, it’s expected that opposing offenses will throw a majority of their targets away from him.
Riley Moss saw that last season by being targeted 103 times, but despite the extra looks from opposing offenses, he proved that he belongs and is one of the NFL’s most exciting young cornerbacks. He was a valuable piece for what the Broncos and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph wanted to do, defensively.
“As long as I’m across from DPOY, it’s going to be like that, and I love the challenge,” Moss said. ‘It makes it fun. It makes it fun to come in to work knowing it’s on me. I’m going to be on an island, and what can I do? That’s what I think makes this game so beautiful and why I love the position that I’m in.”
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Moss’s speed allowed him to play in press alignment at the line of scrimmage against some of the faster receivers Denver faced last year, and the crazy thing about his alignment is that he has an elite-level ability to mirror speedy receivers without having to get his hands on them.
After he went down with an MCL injury in the middle of last season, the Broncos’ defensive production took a noticeable hit, and suddenly the depth at cornerback became somewhat problematic. With Moss on the field, the Broncos played man coverage on almost 41% of their defensive snaps, and that dropped to 31% after his injury, with him not on the field.
Moss attacked his rehab and recovery vigorously with the team in a position to push for a playoff spot.
He returned against the Cincinnati Bengals and drew the tough assignment of guarding Tee Higgins. Moss gave up 11 catches for 100+ yards and two touchdowns, and while that production from an opposing receiver looks problematic in a box score, watching the tape adds context to the game.
Higgins hauled in a handful of incredibly tough-to-make catches, despite Moss being in phase and in position. His self-scouting led to him attacking the offseason with an emphasis on adding more muscle mass and getting stronger, and that’s exactly what he did.
“I think the point of attack when the ball’s up in the air,” Moss said.” Some of those 50/50 balls being stronger, not getting pushed off. That was a big thing for me this offseason was getting bigger, getting stronger, being able to push against the receiver and be a little bit more physical.”
Moss added nearly ten pounds of muscle this offseason and still maintains a low level body fat percentage, which allows him to be stronger up top, but maintain his speed that was advantageous for the Broncos’ defense last season.
Despite fan speculation, it’s evident that Moss’s starting job isn’t in question based on training camp practices and the addition of Jahdae Barron in the NFL Draft. Moss has been the primary outside guy, with Barron getting most of his reps on the inside along with Ja’Quan McMillian.
Barron has gotten some reps on the outside, but that’s a byproduct of Payton and Joseph rotating players in, and they want the first-round rookie cornerback to be able to learn both of the positions, even with the vision for him being in the nickel.
