Broncos' Patrick Surtain II ranks the five best NFL QBs

Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II. Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Broncos' Patrick Surtain II ranks the five best NFL quarterbacks

By Ernesto Cova | Last updated Aug 7, 2025 10:50 AM ET

The Denver Broncos' Patrick Surtain II is, by all means, the best defensive back in all of football.

As such, he's an authorized figure to talk about the best passers in the game.

With that in mind, The Athletic's Chase Daniel and Dianna Russini asked the CB to rank the top five quarterbacks he least liked to face as part of the "Scoop City" podcast, and he didn't disappoint with his response.

"Definitely Mahomes," Surtain started. "Lamar (Jackson) is a problem."

"Josh (Allen), coming off an MVP year, I mean, he's been that guy," Surtain added. "Herbert, yeah, he's always a tough matchup just because of how talented he is."

"Definitely Burrow," he concluded.

We had Patrick Surtain rank the QBs he least wants to face.

So where does the reigning DPOY put Bo Nix?

"I tell you man, Bo’s going to be a problem."pic.twitter.com/serrzGa5Hu
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) August 7, 2025

However, Surtain is also quite high on his own signal-caller, Bo Nix, and believes he's going to be a very good player for a long time.

"I tell you man, Bo’s going to be a problem," Surtain predicted.

Nix was a polarizing prospect coming out of college, but he made a legitimate case for Offensive Rookie of the Year last season.

He looked tailor-made for HC Sean Payton's offensive system, and he took ownership of the offense and looked more poised and in control as the year went by, rarely making the same mistake twice.

Per Pro Football Reference, Nix finished his rookie campaign with 3,775 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on a 66.3 percent completion percentage. He added 92 carries for 430 yards and four scores.

The Broncos won 10 games in his first year, and the bar is much higher now. The AFC West could be the most competitive division in all of football, but if Nix can live up to Surtain's prediction, this team could be a legitimate dark horse to go the distance.

Ernesto Cova

Ernesto is a bilingual (English-Spanish) sports writer with over eight years of experience covering major leagues such as the NBA, NFL, and MLB. Ernesto’s work focuses on providing insightful, up-to-date coverage of sports, blending his expertise in sports psychology with a passion for analyzing player performance, team dynamics, and trade developments across various sports leagues

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