If you’ve done a double take watching the Denver Broncos field arguably the NFL’s elite defense the last few years, that’s understandable.
Yes, the Broncos start a white dude at cornerback. No, it doesn’t happen very often.
Now in his third NFL season and his second year as a full time starter at outside cornerback, Riley Moss is very much still an oddity at his position and very much becoming one of the NFL’s elite players there as well.
Moss has held his own and thrived when he’s essentially targeted every time he plays a game, although not because he’s white. Moss is targeted because he plays opposite the NFL’s dominant cornerback in Patrick Surtain II, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Headed into Sunday’s AFC Championship Game in Denver against the New England Patriots, Moss was expecting more of the same.
“No doubt… the entire world knows that, I know that, you guys know that… it’s going to be a good challenge,” Moss said.
Here’s how Moss and the Broncos got to this point.
Moss One of 2 NFL Stars for Hawkeyes
One interesting note about Moss from his college days at the University of Iowa is that he played along Philadelphia Eagles NFL All-Pro outside slot cornerback and Super Bowl champion Cooper DeJean for the Hawkeyes — although that’s a much different position than outside cornerback.
In 2024, for the first time since Jason Sehorn started 5 games for the New York Giants in 2002, an NFL started a white cornerback with Moss, a third round pick (No. 83 overall) in the 2023 NFL draft.
Moss went on to start 14 games in 2024 as the Broncos made the playoffs for the first time since the 2015 season, only missing 3 games due to injuries.
He started all 17 games in 2025 and led the NFL with 19 pass deflections to go with 80 tackles and 1 interception. He has 2 career interceptions — 1 each of the last 2 seasons.
Surtain Hilariously Defends Moss
In one viral moment from earlier this season, Surtain defended Moss against several bogus pass interference calls on his podcast.
Teams just don’t throw at Surtain. At one point in 2024, the odds of completing a pass against Surtain were so low it was better, statistically, to just throw the ball away than even attempt a pass in his direction.
“I ain’t gonna lie, II think they racial profiling my dog,” Surtain joked on the Closed on Sundays With Pat and Terrion podcast with Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold. “They calling all these flags on my boy … I ain’t gonna lie, these flags is egregious. He had a rep against CeeDee Lamb where he played the ball, where he was in perfect position, and he still got a flag.”
Whatever happens with Moss, he could be in line for a massive payday this offseason — the Broncos would be smart to lock him up on a contract extension before he hits the open free agent market in 2027.
“This is wild … Broncos CB Riley Moss spent 7 minutes and 1 second in tight coverage this season — 1 minute and 23 seconds longer than any other NFL defender,” Mile High Huddle’s Zack Kelberman wrote on X on January 15. “Moss faced a league-high 116 coverage targets and allowed a 53.4% completion percentage.”
How Denver’s Riley Moss Became NFL’s First White CB in 22 Years