Pat Surtain had a banner year in 2022 — his 60 tackles, two interceptions and ten pass deflections have helped him rank high on offseason rankings into the 2023 NFL season. Surtain was ranked No. 19 on CBS’s Top 100 NFL players and No. 7 on Pro Football Focus Top 25 Under 25 list.
Add another accolade to Surtain’s belt: He is ranked No. 6 on Touchdown Wire’s Top 11 cornerbacks list. Doug Farrar explains why he put the talented third-year corner at No. 6:
In 2021, the ninth overall pick from Alabama was in a defense that fit his strengths — it was a man-heavy set of coverages, and Surtain is a dead-red man cornerback above all. In his rookie season, Surtain had 230 coverage snaps in man, and 163 in zone. In 2022, he had 136 coverage snaps in man, and 391 in zone.
The difference was all the difference.
2021: 49 catches on 85 targets for 560 yards, 201 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, four interceptions, eight pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 69.7.
2022: 41 catches on 69 targets for 417 yards, 95 yards after the catch, four touchdowns, two interceptions, seven pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 84.0.
Surtain will be on his third defensive coordinator in three years, but if 2022 is any indication, we can expect more improvement in 2023.
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