ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos have the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback on one side.
Better believe Seattle quarterback Geno Smith is going to test the other, where second-year player Riley Moss is the Broncos’ new starting corner.
“Absolutely. I’ve had this my first start at Iowa,’’ Moss said before a media throng at his locker Thursday. “I went there, and I had three deep bombs, first drive. I ended up with two picks that day so it’s a thing that you know it’s going to happen. I hope it’s going to happen. And I’m ready to make a play.”
Indeed, Moss’s first start at Iowa was as a freshman in 2018. He had two interceptions against Minnesota quarterback Zach Annexstad, including one he returned 38 yards to set up a score.
Moss is a first-game starter again, only this time the opposing quarterback will be Smith, a two-time Pro Bowl selection since he replaced Russell Wilson as the Seahawks’ quarterback two years ago. Smith’s receivers will be D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, speaking of Pro Bowlers.
“I hear it’s pretty loud up there,’’ Moss said. “We’ll see. I played at Happy Valley at Penn State, so we’ll see if they got some loudness out there.”
He’s got that cornerback confidence, give him that. After the Broncos traded away a future third-round draft pick to select Moss in the third round of the 2023 draft, much has been expected. But a sports hernia-like injury in the second week of training camp that required immediate surgery took its toll physically and mentally. He played in 14 games in his rookie season but got in for only 23 snaps on defense.
Healthy this offseason and through training camp and the preseason, Moss beat out veterans Damarri Mathis and Levi Wallace for the starting cornerback spot opposite Pat Surtain II, who just received an NFL-record four-year, $96 million contract extension.
“It’s been my goal since I got here,’’ Moss said of starting. “Even being injured last year it was my goal. Obviously started behind the 8 ball but being able to grow and learn last year and then this year … now that it's here, now goals grow a little bit more. It’s getting some picks. It’s solidifying.”
Where has he improved the most from year one to year two? Where else but in coverage.
“In man coverage for sure, press coverage,’’ he said. “I’m staying more patient. Because at Iowa we played a lot of zone. It was more of a spot drop than man-to-man type of thing. So, playing man I’ve grown a lot for sure.”
Bronco Bits
Outside linebacker Nik Bonitto on switching from No. 42 to No. 15: “It was my high school number,’’ he said. Bonitto played at mighty St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the same high school that produced the likes of tennis star Chris Evert, football standouts like the Bosa brothers, Michael Irvin, Brian Piccolo, Geno Atkins, Phillip Dorsett, and author Michael Connelly and actor Billy Crudup among many other dignitaries. ...
Again, there were no players on the Broncos’ injury report Thursday.
Undrafted offensive tackle Frank Crum has his real estate license for the state of Wyoming. He is not currently selling, opting instead to work on his football craft. ...
Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi on the defensive scheme of new Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald: “They give a lot of different looks, a lot of different packages, and then they'll bluff out... That's the hardest thing. If they brought it every time, it's easy to have a plan. If they never bring it, it's easy to have a plan. It's a mixture of the same looks and dropping out, just rushing forward, blitzes and stuff. It definitely keeps you on your toes.”
