Surtain and Moss Are Both Questionable, and Taylor Rapp Is the Answer Denver Has

Pat Surtain II is listed Questionable, Riley Moss is Questionable, and the player behind both of them is Taylor Rapp — a veteran safety the Broncos signed in August who has barely factored into the defensive production this season. Brandon Jones has been carrying the secondary's workload almost entirely on his own. The drop-off to Rapp is not gradual; it is a cliff.

This secondary was already a concern heading into the season. Blake Cotton went to injured reserve before the year started, and the Rapp signing was Denver's answer to that hole. Now that same Rapp is potentially the answer to a different, larger hole — one that involves the best cornerback on the roster. Surtain is one of the better corners in the AFC. The players behind him on the depth chart, Sean Fresch and Ja'Quan McMillian, have not logged meaningful snaps this season.

The Broncos have been managing depth crises at running back for weeks now — that's been the story I've been filing since late September. The backfield situation hasn't resolved so much as stabilized. This is a new front opening up, and it's a worse one. You can scheme around a thin backfield. A secondary missing its anchor corner, with a backup safety as the primary contingency, is a different kind of exposed.

Both Surtain and Moss are Questionable, not Out, so there is still a reasonable chance one or both plays. But the fact that Rapp is the fallback is the part worth noting. Denver signed him to be depth. Right now he may be the plan.