The Denver Broncos boast the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Patrick Surtain II, among their ranks, but it doesn't mean that they won't scout the cornerback class in the upcoming draft. The Broncos feel confident in last season's emergence of cornerback Riley Moss, who started most of the season opposite the imperious Surtain.
That being said, when injury struck Moss late last season, the Broncos' passing defense struggled mightily. It was torched frequently by a succession of different receivers down the stretch.
Such is the nature of the pass-happy NFL, so the prevailing front-office approach in recent years is to keep adding talented defensive backs who can help lock down opposing receivers. That being said, going cornerback early in this draft might be the epitome of indulging in some luxury shopping on the part of GM George Paton, especially after he was so generous in his praise of Denver's 2024 fifth-round pick, Kris Abrams-Draine.
"When we played the Chargers on Thursday night, it wasn't too big for him," Paton said of Abrams-Draine on Monday at the annual NFL meetings in Florida. "He started making plays. He has unique cover skills, really good instincts, and he doesn't get fazed. We're really encouraged with him."
While Paton has highlighted Abrams-Draine's late-season coming-out party against the Los Angeles Chargers as a tangible sign of his potential, we can't forget how he stepped into the breach when Jerry Jeudy of the Cleveland Browns was torching the Broncos in Week 13 sans Moss.
On a night that perhaps was made all the more memorable by just how explosive former Broncos receiver Jerry Jeudy's return to Denver actually was, the real weaknesses the Browns' Pro Bowler exposed on the backend were plain to see.
Jeudy torched hapless veteran corner Levi Wallace all night long and ended up catching nine balls for an almost unfathomable 235 yards during a game the Browns ended up losing 41-32 to the Broncos.
After the dust had settled, Wallace was released the following Tuesday, and the Broncos continued to give an increasing number of snaps to Abrams-Draine. That proved to be a wise move in terms of developing more youthful depth at the cornerback spot.
When push came to shove, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was finally forced to insert the untested Abrams-Draine in the fourth quarter in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding vs. the Browns. They were valuable extra reps, as it turned out, which resulted in head coach Sean Payton referencing Draine's progress after he made his first career start against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 14.
"We felt somewhat positive when we looked at him coming out in this year's draft," Payton said last December after beating the Colts. "The last two weeks, he showed some moxie, stayed with his guys, didn't panic when the ball was in the air. There's something about him in both cases, I was really encouraged."
It didn't start out all roses for Abrams-Draine, though, as the Broncos GM revealed that he was a bit behind coming out of the gate in OTAs.
“He was probably the rookie that we felt was furthest behind after OTAs and the summer," Paton said of Abrams-Draine. "Then we got into training camp and he kept making plays, and it just wasn’t too big for him."
At the end of the day, the Broncos aren't afraid to add more pieces to their already impressive defense. Furthermore, we all know that developing cornerbacks is a time-consuming process, but it's one that is already bearing fruit with a mid-round pick like Abrams-Draine.
Perhaps that means fans can expect some action at the cornerback spot to test the theory a little further, just not on Days 1 or 2 of the draft (let's hope).
