Patrick Surtain II isn’t sounding alarmed about the Broncos’ offseason turnover on defense. If anything, the star cornerback thinks Denver has enough in-house options to handle it.
The biggest change in the secondary came when PJ Locke left in free agency for the Dallas Cowboys on a one-year, $5 million deal. Denver did bring in Tycen Anderson, but he profiles almost entirely as a special-teams piece. The Broncos also used a seventh-round pick on Miles Scott, though he is not a sure thing to survive final roster cuts.
That leaves the Broncos with an open competition for the No. 3 safety job behind Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones, who is coming back from a season-ending pectoral injury. When veterans reported to training camp Tuesday, Surtain pointed to a group of young defenders ready to sort it out.
“We have a lot of great pieces to fill that void," star cornerback Patrick Surtain II told reporters Tuesday as veterans reported to training camp. "Obviously P.J. was a great player, a very instrumental part to our team.
So obviously you know you have JL, Devon Key, and a couple other guys to step up and fulfill that spot. So I'm looking forward to it.
It's going to be a fun camp.”
That battle is expected to include Anderson, Scott, All-Pro special-teamer Devon Key, fourth-year pro JL Skinner, and former undrafted Parker Robertson once camp gets rolling later this week. For now, there’s no obvious front-runner, and Denver seems content to let the competition play out.
The same approach is showing up on the defensive line, where the Broncos also need to replace John Franklin-Myers after his March departure to the Tennessee Titans on a $63 million deal. The candidates there are sophomore DE Sai'vion Jones, third-round rookie Tyler Onyedim, and 2022 fourth-round pick Eyioma Uwazurike, with veterans DJ Jones and Malcolm Roach expected to help supply production as well.
Surtain said he believes that group can meet the standard left behind by Franklin-Myers.
“That's part of the business, as they say. Obviously when great players leave, you have to count on other guys to step up," he told reporters.
"Like you mentioned, Sai’vion, and ‘Enyi’ (Uwazurike) all of those guys, they've been working very hard. Obviously Sai’vion, a young guy stepping up last year in his role.
And ‘Enyi’, he’s been a baller as well, stepping up in his role too, year-in and year-out. So I feel like the expectations stay the same even when ‘JFM’ (Franklin-Myers) was here.
I know that room holds each other to high standards, and I feel like they expect the same out of both those two.”
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