Payton Applauds Moss’ Offseason IQ—“Smart, Lengthy CB Getting It Done”

One of the reasons fans were so surprised by the Denver Broncos' first-round pick this year was the strength of the team's cornerback room. With the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Patrick Surtain II, at the top of the depth chart, followed by Riley Moss, Ja'Quan McMillian, and the encouraging 2024 fifth-rounder Kris Abrams-Draine, cornerback wasn't perceived as a big roster need.

That's part of why the Broncos were so quick to draft Jahdae Barron in the first round, though. A) He was the best player available, and B) drafting him bolstered a roster strength. It's hard to fault the Broncos' logic when you consider the lay of the quarterback land in the AFC West.

Competition is good. But there's no escaping how the Barron selection served as a shot across the bow of starters like Moss and McMillian. Based on what Broncos head coach Sean Payton said about Moss on Tuesday following the team's mandatory minicamp practice, it seems that Moss received that message, loud and clear.

Payton dished on how Moss acquitted himself as a first-time starter in 2024 and whether he's "come into his own" yet as a player.

“When you’re opposite of Patrick, you’re getting a lot of traffic. He rose to the occasion," Payton said of Moss. "He’s someone who’s extremely smart. So studying splits, [he does] all the things that allow you to have a chance to be a pretty good corner. I say this: if you’re covering everything, you’re not covering anything. Tight split, minus-2, plus-2, runway. In eliminating routes that can’t be run. He’s having a good offseason.”

Moss Background

Moss is not only fiery and surprisingly physical for a cornerback, but as Payton said, his football IQ is very high. Moss spends a lot of time in the film room, which helps give him a chance to thrive in an environment where he's receiving an inordinate volume of targets from the opponent's passing game.

A 2023 third-round pick out of Iowa, an injury cost Moss most of his rookie campaign. But he competed hard in training camp last year, and won the starting job opposite of Surtain, with McMillian in the slot.

That trio turned out to be quite good, when healthy. Surtain is a dominant player, but he missed time with a concussion in 2024. Moss helped the secondary hold down the fort while Surtain was out.

When the shoe was on the other foot, and Moss went down with a knee injury that would cost him three starts and the better part of four games, the Broncos' passing defense went sideways. It wasn't Surtain's fault; he still did his thing locking down one side of the field.

But the communication on the back end of Denver's defense went from being very savvy and connected to suddenly disjointed, and it was one big play after another. The Broncos gave up a lot of passing yards from Week 13 through Week 16 while Moss was out.

We don't know this for sure, but with the destiny of the season on the line, it's possible that Moss may have been rushed back into the lineup because he didn't look quite the same in Week 17's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Week 18 was much more manageable vs. the Kansas City Chiefs' junior varsity squad, and against the Buffalo Bills in the Wildcard Round of the playoffs, the Broncos turned in a cringeworthy performance defensively, top to bottom.

A Factor in the Barron Decision

That stretch that Moss missed likely played a part in the Broncos' decision to draft Barron in the first round. Payton and company don't want to be exposed like that again in the event of an injury, and now the secondary is five deep at cornerback.

Plus, Abrams-Draine's contributions while Moss was out were impressive, especially for a rookie. The problem was that he wasn't Vance Joseph's first solution; it was Levi Wallace, who was cut after relinquishing a record-breaking game to Jerry Jeudy in Denver's narrow Week 13 win over the Cleveland Browns.

Even after Wallace's collapse and subsequent release, Joseph seemed reluctant to give Abrams-Draine the rope, which is somewhat understandable. Needing one win to snap the Broncos' heretofore eight-year playoff drought, all the chips were down, and it's hard to rely on a rookie in such a pressure-cooker situation.

Instead, Joseph deployed a combination of Demarri Mathis and Abrams-Draine after cutting Wallace. Alas, Mathis wasn't equal to his opportunity, but, again, Abrams-Draine made it clear that he has a future in the league.

The Takeaway

When I say the Broncos are five deep at cornerback, I'm including Abrams-Draine, who will be all the wiser with this rookie campaign in the rear-view. The question is, who does Barron threaten more? Moss or McMillian?

It's hard to say during the offseason training program, but it seems that McMillian is the most likely odd man out. Barron can play inside or out, and Moss is a former third-round draft pick who's had a "good offseason" on the heels of an impressive first-year starter. And if McMillian is your fourth-best corner, you're going to war with a loaded arsenal.

We'll have a better bead on the cornerback supremacy question when the cleats hit the grass in training camp. Until then, the Broncos have two more mandatory minicamp practices and then they'll break for the six-week NFL summer.