Cornerback Riley Moss has one of the hardest jobs in the National Football League. Trying to shutdown high-end wide receivers on a weekly basis is already tough enough. That task becomes a lot harder playing across from a Hall of Fame caliber player like Patrick Surtain II.
Appearing in eight games as a rookie, Moss had just one pass thrown against him. Since then? It has been trial by fire for the former Iowa Hawkeyes standout. Pending the source, Moss was targeted at least 100 times the past two
seasons. That volume placing him as one of NFL’s most targeted corners.
With quarterbacks going in your direction that often, an occasional big play given up or a penalty against you is bound to happen. It’s just a part of the game. Even so, Moss has never shied away from a challenge. In fact, he has embraced it. Yesterday after practice, Head Coach Sean Payton took a moment to praise the fourth-year cornerback’s approach to the position.
“A little grit and toughness. He can bury the last play. He knows he’s going to get a lot of traffic and attention. Yes, I like his toughness,” stated Payton.
“I think it’s a tough position to play, and he doesn’t back down at all from that, his confidence doesn’t wane. That’s a really good trait.”
Last season, Moss led the league in passes defended with 19 last seasons. Additionally, he allowed only a 53.4 completion percentage which was 11th best for boundary cornerbacks. That’s quite impressive, especially how often he is challenged every week.
Unfortunately, Moss was on the wrong end of the scale in one respect—penalties. He was worst in the league in that respect drawing 11 throughout the course of the 2025 season. Entering his fourth season with the franchise, a contract year, Moss vowed to stay aggressive in his approach on gamedays despite the high number of flags going his direction.
“My parents have always told me this, I like to learn the hard way. It actually helps me out in those situations because yes, they’re going to throw the flag because I’m being too aggressive. But even ‘VJ’ will tell me, ‘Keep going out there. Keep playing aggressive.’ It happens,” stated Moss.
“I know I need to do better as a whole this season, and I have been. It’s been a big focus of this camp. I’m still going to play aggressive and not shy away from it.”
In addition to playing aggressive, Moss mentioned one area he is hoping to get much better at—creating turnovers. Despite an eye-popping 27 passes defended combined the last two seasons, Moss has just two interceptions in his career to date.
Finding a way to turn some of those into game-changing plays would certainly help the Broncos in their quest for a fourth Lombardi Trophy. This offseason and through training camp, Moss and the entire defense has been working diligently to make that improvement. After practice, he reflected on last season and how he plans to reel in more interceptions in 2026.
“I was in great position for the most part the entire year last year. Now it’s turning my head and trusting my ability to go and play the ball because the receiver is also playing the ball. It’s just getting out of that habit of that man-to-man instead of just going out there and looking for the ball. It’s a hard habit to break, I won’t lie to you, but that’s why we’re out here practicing. It’s been a big point of emphasis for me.”
