Eclectic collection of guests for tonight’s ManningCast

Denver’s defense has six different starters (in nickel) compared to the horrendous Dolphins game and only one of these changes has been forced by the Kareem Jackson suspension. Browning, Simmons and Jewell coming back was obviously big. But can the revamped secondary be trusted? McMillan looked great, Moreau quietly competent but Locke might have gotten away thanks to drops. Chiefs and Packers WRs might not have been the biggest test either. So is this going to be a bigger test today? And how much of Surtain vs. Diggs will we see? Steve F.

How has Pat Surtain looked recently? Is he going to cover Diggs mostly or does he stay on one side of the field? If Diggs moves over to the slot, will Pat follow him there? Thanks guys! – Nick P.

Since both of these readers asked about Pat Surtain II, let’s do a quick review of how he has been playing of late.

Per Stathead, from Weeks 6-9 Surtain allowed 13 completions on 17 targets for 150 yards and one touchdown. That equates to a 76.5 percent completion rate, 11.5 yards per completion, and an 8.8 yards-per-target clip, all of which are mediocre or worse.

This does not suggest that Surtain will fare well in a coverage matchup against Stefon Diggs, but Denver’s defense did rank sixth in fantasy points allowed per game on vertical passes in that same time span, so this may be a case where Diggs catches a lot of short passes with success, but has a tougher time hitting a big play.