Broncos’ Pat Surtain II doing “crazy things” in dominant start

Before Levi Wallace arrived in Denver this offseason as a free agent, he knew the book on Pat Surtain II.

Pro Bowler. All-Pro at a young age. Rock-solid reputation.

When he saw Surtain work first-hand for the first time as his teammate Week 1, he knew all of that didn’t do the Broncos’ best player justice.

“You don’t really know how good he is. You’re like, he made the Pro Bowl, that’s cool, but you don’t really ever get to sit there and (watch),” Wallace told The Denver Post on Wednesday.

“When we played Seattle, I told him, ‘Pat, that’s the first time I’ve ever actually watched you, like, real-deal lock someone down.’ I’ve been around good corners. Obviously (Patrick Peterson) was great during his prime. Tre’Davious (White) had a couple of really good years before his injuries. I’ve been around some really good corners and I feel like I’m a really good corner, too.

“Pat is doing some really, like, crazy things.”

Indeed, it’s been a heck of a month for Surtain. He signed a four-year, $96 million extension the week of Denver’s season opener and he’s been on a dominant stretch since.

Each week, he’s been tasked with mostly traveling with the opposing team’s best player and covering him.

Those guys so far: Seattle’s DK Metcalf, Pittsburgh’s George Pickens, Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans and the New York Jets’ Garrett Wilson.

Surtain, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats and The Post’s tracking, was the closest man in coverage on 87 of the 125 routes those four receivers ran against the Broncos.

He’s allowed seven catches for 75 yards.

The tally with Surtain as the closest man in coverage looks like this:

Metcalf: 24 routes, four targets, three catches, 29 yards

Pickens: 11 routes, two targets, one catch, 16 yards

Evans: 24 routes, one target, one catch, 8 yards

Wilson: 28 routes, three targets, two catches 22 yards

Surtain’s credited with 147 coverage snaps overall and has been targeted all of 11 times.

“It’s not even that he’s doing a whole lot or making a ton of plays. Guys don’t even throw at him,” Wallace said. “It’s a respect thing. That’s impressive when other quarterbacks — you know they’re in a team meeting saying, ‘We know Pat’s following this guy, somebody else has to make plays for us this week.’ He has that respect around the league. So it’s pretty cool to see that other teams have that respect for him. He deserves it. He is truly one of the best corners in the league, if not the best. And he works for it, too.”

Wallace had a play in mind. The Jets had the ball first-and-10 at their own 45 coming out of the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter with a chance to go down and score and win the game. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers hadn’t thrown at Surtain much but tried to get Wilson on a slant. Surtain broke it up easily.

“I think it was his second ball getting thrown at him and he knocks it down on a slant with Garrett Wilson,” Wallace said. “Some guys fall asleep when they haven’t had any targets and you let something cheap like that go at the end. He’s locked in all the way and pressed pretty much every rep against Garrett Wilson. To go out with fearlessness like that and to be locked in for four quarters, that’s special.”

It’s nothing new for Surtain. He’s been regarded as one of the NFL’s finest cornerbacks for the past three seasons. This level of play, though, he takes pride in.

“Year after year, I feel like with my experience, I’ve been getting better with knowing my opponent,” Surtain said. “It’s a credit to my game and also to the staff for trusting me to put me in that situation. The staff’s made that call for me to follow the best each each and every week and I’ve just got to live up to that.”