Broncos player named AFC Defensive Player of the Week

DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Broncos are on a bit of a hot streak when it comes to picking up AFC Player of the Week awards. A third Bronco has been named an AFC Player of the Week and it's not even halfway through the season.

Broncos' inside linebacker, Cody Barton, has been awarded the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his outstanding efforts against the New Orleans Saints in Week 7. He joins teammates Pat Surtain II, who picked up the same award in Week 5 versus the rival Las Vegas Raiders and Wil Lutz, who won the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3.

In his sixth season in the NFL and first with the Broncos, Barton was able to help the team secure the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for a second time. This was last done by Broncos' players in 2019 when Dre'Mont Jones and Kareem Jackson each took home the award.

In winning his first career conference honors, Barton became the first linebacker since former Bronco Von Miller in 2018 to win the award. He joins a group of seven other Broncos' linebackers including:

• Wesley Woodyard
• Al Wilson
• D.J. Williams
• Glenn Cadrez
• John Mobley
• Karl Mecklenburg
• Von Miller

He also became the 32nd Bronco to win the honor, although some of those players have won it multiple times to bring the franchise total to 40 since the award began in 1984.

How Barton did it

In the bright lights of Thursday Night Football, Barton had himself a game. He recorded eight tackles (six of which were solo), one sack, one pass defended and had a fumble recovery for a 52-yard touchdown.

He became the third Bronco since 1982 to record at least one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery touchdown in a single game.

Barton is a Salt Lake City native who was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks with the 88th pick in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Broncos in the offseason and has appeared in all seven games of the season so far and has started four of the contests.

He has recorded 45 tackles, 23 solo tackles, one sack, one pass defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery touchdown. In his 85 career games, he has a total of 360 tackles, 201 solo tackles, three sacks, three interceptions, 10 passes defended, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.