The story of the Denver Broncos’ last offseason was their commitment to investing in the secondary and rebuilding the unit after a horrendous, injury-plagued 2020. Unfortunately, the results weren’t quite what Broncos Country was hoping for.
Although they might’ve unearthed a solid foundation moving forward, some of their bigger additions didn’t come close to living up to expectations.
Who thrived and who disappointed at cornerback in 2021? Let’s take a look
Patrick Surtain II
Whether or not the Broncos should’ve drafted a quarterback with the ninth overall pick remains debatable, especially with them appearing to still have a desperate need at the position.
However, setting that tiresome discussion aside, Patrick Surtain II had a stellar rookie season.
Cornerback is one of the toughest positions to learn at the NFL level, and as a result, we often see rookie corners struggle tremendously. On top of that, Surtain II had to deal with limited reps as the result of playing in a secondary that was projected to be loaded, and he had to learn four different positions in camp, so that he could find playing time in Denver’s supposedly deep secondary. Also, Fangio’s defense, which plays zone and off-coverage at a high rate, wasn’t the best fit for Surtain, who thrived in press-man coverage. Then, upon the season starting, he was thrust into a much larger role than expected, as a result of injury.
With all that in mind, if Surtain had a disappointing rookie year, it would have been entirely excusable. Yet, despite all of those very legitimate excuses for failure, Surtain thrived as a rookie and quickly emerged as Denver’s best cornerback, and one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL.
Following his incredible performance against the Chargers in Week 12, the advanced analytic expected points added (EPA) calculated that Surtain had produced an EPA when targetted of -21.7 on the season, ranking fourth among all NFL defensive backs.
Patrick Surtain reached a top speed of 22.07 mph on his 70-yd pick six, the fastest speed by a defensive player as a ball-carrier over the last five seasons.
Surtain leads all rookies in EPA when targeted this season, and ranks 4th among DBs (-21.7).#LACvsDEN | #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/6HJsATUCBe
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 28, 2021
That’s an incredible metric, as it suggests that even as a rookie, Patrick Surtain was worth approximately 1.97 points per game (Denver had only played 11 games at this point), which is insane value for a rookie cornerback to be producing.
Plus, with Surtain’s athletic potential, there’s plenty of room to develop and to become even more elite.
Ronald Darby
Ronald Darby was incredibly streaky during his first season in Denver, and that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as it’s been the case with him for much of his career.
Darby’s tenure with the Broncos got off to a rough start, despite a really promising training camp and preseason. In Week 1 he suffered a hamstring injury that would land him on injured reserve, and he wouldn’t return to the field until Week 6. Then, upon returning, Darby was scorched by the Las Vegas Raiders and Henry Ruggs. On just five targets, Darby allowed five receptions for 113 yards and a touchdown.
After that game, Darby righted the ship to some extent. In Week 10, Darby finally began to play like the high-end cornerback the Broncos paid for, despite missing the last two games of the season. Over his final six appearances, he was targetted at the highest rate of any of Denver’s starting cornerbacks (targets per coverage snap), yet allowed a reception at the lowest rate of Denver’s starters (receptions per coverage snap). He also forced the most incompletions of any Bronco cornerback over that stretch, forcing incompletions on 13 percent of targets, a rate that led the starting corners.
If Darby can consistently play at that level in 2022, he’ll form a nasty tandem with Patrick Surtain II for next season.
Bryce Callahan
The story with Bryce Callahan has been the same for most of his career.
Incredibly talented player, one of the best nickel corners in the sport, but he just can’t stay healthy. When on the field, he’s the epitome of consistency and reliability. It doesn’t even matter if he’s matched up against a larger receiver, as he has consistently demonstrated the toughness and ability to match up with Mike Williams-types during his time playing on the outside.
The problem is, his health has been anything but consistent and reliable, as he’s missed time in every season of his career.
In 2021, Callahan was arguably Denver’s best cornerback when healthy, as he’d been throughout his time in the Mile High City, but also suffered another lower body injury, when he landed awkwardly. He managed to return the field, and played well when he did, but the Broncos will have to determine if his high-end play makes him worth a pricy contract despite consistent injury problems.
If they do decide to let him walk, it would put the Broncos in a very awkward position at cornerback.
Nate Hairston
The Denver Broncos might have stumbled into finding a solid depth piece with Nate Hairston, who played very well in his limited opportunities this season.
Hairston, along with Callahan and Kyle Fuller, was one of Denver’s primary nickel corners last season, and with all set to hit free agency, there’s an added need to bring Hairston (or at least one of those three) back to Denver.
Although Hairston was never the primary option for the Broncos when they were in nickel, he did a good enough job in their dime looks this year that he could easily receive a promotion and see more playing time in 2022. If Callahan and Fuller were to walk and Hairston returned, he would likely only have to compete with a rookie for the job.
Kyle Fuller
Kyle Fuller’s 2021 season was a tremendous disappointment.
When Denver added him, so many in Broncos Country were excited to see if he could return to his elite form upon being reunited with Vic Fangio, but instead, Fuller appeared well past his prime for the entire year.
Fuller’s struggles were so bad he was eventually benched, and he only got back onto the field as a nickel due to injuries at cornerback. Once he transitioned to nickel, he played better, but still failed to live up to the contract Denver signed him to.
With him now another year older, and Vic Fangio out of the building, a return to Denver feels deeply improbable.
Michael Ojemudia
After suffering a grizzly hamstring injury in the preseason, Michael Ojemudia missed all but two games in the 2021 season, and only started once.
However, he made the most of that one start.
Despite being matched up against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs’ All-Star array of weapons in Week 18, Ojemudia performed brilliantly. It would have been harder to draw up a less advantageous scenario for Ojemudia, and yet still, he seemed to have taken a sizable leap in development from his 2020 play.
Mahomes made a point of going after the injured second-year corner, targetting him 11 times over the course of the game. Over those 11 targets, Ojemudia surrendered just 45 yards to Kansas City’s offense.
We should be careful to not draw any extreme conclusions from a one-game sample, but Broncos Country should be excited to see what else Ojemudia can bring to the field in 2022.
Mike Ford
The Broncos added Mike Ford to be a special teams ace for them, in hopes that he could be what finally remedies Denver’s special teams woes.
Ford didn’t manage to fix the Broncos’ special teams all by himself, but he did play a major role in improving it. He was an excellent gunner for the Broncos, on the punt team. However, multiple personal foul penalties caused by Ford allowed the opponents to have better field position than they likely would’ve secured with a standard return.
Ford is set to hit free agency and offers little outside of his special teams prowess, so it seems likely that Denver will let him walk, as he doesn’t contribute on defense.
Essang Bassey
In 2021, Essang Bassey didn’t play a single snap for the Broncos, as he spent the season rehabbing a torn ACL he suffered in December of 2020.
Considering he was serviceable as a rookie, Denver kept him around despite him being unable to play, and the fact that every other nickel cornerback is set to hit free agency; Bassey should see his role increase in 2022. However, being a roster cutdown casualty wouldn’t come as much of a surprise either.
Synopsis
Denver’s secondary largely disappointed in 2021.
Fuller played terribly at his lowest and was just fine at his best, all while the Broncos were paying him like one of the better cornerbacks in the league. Meanwhile promising young pieces in Ojemudia and Bassey, were unable to get on the field due to injury.
However, the most important pieces in that cornerback room performed brilliantly. Surtain looks like a young, bonafide superstar at one of the game’s most important positions, who could do the same thing at cornerback for Denver that Von Miller did at edge for so many seasons.
Meanwhile, Darby had stretches where he looked like a high-end corner in his own right.
Those two, paired with promising showings from Ojemudia and Hairston in limited playing time, appear to create a solid foundation for the cornerback room, but there’s also no doubt that an infusion of talent is still necessary.
Look for the Broncos to target slot corners in the draft or free agency this offseason, as Hairston, Callahan, and Fuller are all set to be unrestricted free agents and accounted for 96.6% of Denver’s cornerback snaps in the slot this season.
Overall Position Group Grade: B