Denver Broncos

Vertical — Concept passing + vertical shots.
Team fit 84.5 A−

Single High — +1 in the box. Beat our man coverage.
Team fit 84.6 A− · Read the full guide →

This is a defensive team — the offense's job is mostly to not waste what the defense builds. The face of it is Pat Surtain II (CB, 97).

Reality check: Denver is 5-2, and Week 7 finally gave Nix a highlight: a franchise-record 62-yard touchdown run and 222 passing yards in a 30-16 win at Arizona. The caveat remains — he is averaging just 182 passing yards a game, and the defense is still doing most of the work.

Courtland Sutton (WR, 86) is the headliner. 93 spectacular catch — the spectacular-catch trait — throws into coverage are not automatically bad ideas; 91 acceleration — zero to full speed in a blink — the first three steps are already gone. Game-planning against this team starts with him and works backward.

Bo Nix (80) at quarterback is serviceable rather than special; the stars around him are asked to make him right. The line has a star of its own: Garett Bolles (LT, 96), the kind of blocker whole run concepts get built behind. Fine print — Bo Nix: he broke his ankle in last January's divisional round, missed the AFC title game, needed a follow-up procedure in April — and still made Week 1.

Pat Surtain II (CB, 97) sets the terms. 97 man coverage — can travel with a WR1 and live on an island; 96 zone coverage — reads the quarterback's eyes and breaks before the ball does; 95 press — gets hands on receivers at the line and reroutes the whole concept. He is the problem the other sideline has to solve first.

And he has company at the top: Nik Bonitto (91) also rates 90+, giving this roster 2 defenders at that level. The back end (85.2 average) is the strength and the front (80.9) is ordinary — this defense wins by making quarterbacks hold the ball, then covering long enough for average rushers to arrive.

Wil Lutz (78) kicks — 97 leg, 85 accuracy. Jeremy Crawshaw (82) punts — 94 leg, 89 accuracy. The return game has a genuine weapon: Marvin Mims Jr (88 return, 92 speed).

Offense: RJ Harvey (HB, 79 OVR) — a 92 speed buried at 79 overall. Speed is the one trait that plays at any overall — it travels to any package, any formation, any Sunday.

Defense: Jahdae Barron (CB, 74 OVR). Read the ratings page twice: the overall says 74, the speed says 93. Overall is about the whole job; that speed is about one job, and he can already do that one as well as most starters.