Patrick Surtain II is voted the NFL's top cornerback by AP panel for the second straight year

Patrick Surtain II has built an impressive resume in just five seasons.

The Denver Broncos defensive back has made four Pro Bowls, been first-team All-Pro twice, second-team once and was only the seventh cornerback to win AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year, earning the award after the 2024 season.

Surtain now has been voted the top NFL cornerback for the second straight year by The Associated Press in a preseason survey.

Surtain received seven first-place votes from a panel of eight AP pro football writers who ranked the top five players at the position, basing selections on current status entering the 2026 season. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second- through fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Derek Stingley Jr. got the other first-place vote and finished second. Quinyon Mitchell and Devon Witherspoon tied for third, and Trent McDuffie and Sauce Gardner tied for fifth.

Surtain has become an elite player at a premier position. He allowed 31 receptions and a 66.5 passer rating when targeted by opposing quarterbacks in 2025.

Surtain had one interception, mainly because teams don’t throw his direction. He missed three games with a pec strain but returned in the playoffs to help the Broncos reach the AFC championship game.

Stingley earned All-Pro for the second straight season, and has developed into one of the league’s best cover cornerbacks for Houston’s stingy defense.

He had four interceptions, allowed 34 receptions in coverage and broke up nine passes in coverage last season. Opposing quarterbacks had just a 67.4 passer rating against him.

Stingley was selected one spot ahead of Sauce Gardner at No. 3 overall in the 2022 draft.

He got five second-place votes and appeared on seven ballots.

Mitchell earned All-Pro honors in just his second season in the NFL.

He gave up 36 catches in coverage, broke up seven passes and QBs had just a 58.4 passer rating against him. Mitchell doesn’t have an interception in the regular season but he’s snagged four picks in five playoff games for the Eagles.

Mitchell appeared on six ballots.

Witherspoon made his third Pro Bowl in three seasons, earned second-team All-Pro honors and helped Seattle win the Super Bowl.

He surrendered 46 receptions in coverage and QBs had a 99.8 passer rating against him. Witherspoon appeared on four ballots.

McDuffie has been one of the league’s best slot cornerbacks in his first four seasons in Kansas City, helping the Chiefs win two Super Bowls and play in another one.

McDuffie was a first-team All-Pro slot cornerback in 2023 and a second-team choice in 2024. The Rams acquired him for a package of draft picks, including No. 29 overall in this April's draft.

He allowed 37 passes in coverage, broke up four and had one pick. He allowed a 94.7 passer rating when targeted.

McDuffie appeared on three ballots.

The two-time All-Pro was traded from the Jets to the Colts in a blockbuster deal for two first-round picks midway through last season but played in only four games for his new team because of a calf injury.

Gardner received three votes.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

FILE - Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., left, is unable to catch a pass as Indianapolis Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner (1) defends during the first half of an NFL football game, Dec. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers (4) is tackled after a catch by Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie (22) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sept. 28, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann, File)

FILE - Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon (21) plays defense against the New England Patriots during the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Doug Benc, File)

FILE - Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, right, leaps to intercept the ball intended for San Francisco 49ers tight end Jake Tonges during an NFL wild-card playoff football game, Jan. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, File)

FILE - Houston Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. catches a pass during an NFL minicamp football practice June 9, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

FILE - Denver Broncos' Patrick Surtain II, AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year, poses after winning the award at the NFL Honors award show ahead of the Super Bowl 59 football game Feb. 6, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher in early Friday trading, as regional market sentiment got a boost from the rally on Wall Street, mostly from big technology stocks.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% in morning trading to 64,622.33. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.9% to 6,635.67. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed, slipping less than 0.1% to 9,011.80. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 2.1% to 25,751.26, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.8% to 3,973.27.

Stocks on Wall Street closed higher Thursday as a recent run-up in bond yields eased further and big technology companies rallied. The S&P 500 rose 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite closed 1.4% higher.

Communication services stocks also accounted for a large share of the rally. Their huge valuations tend to give them more influence over the broader market’s direction.

Microsoft rose 2.7%, Apple gained 1% and Meta climbed 3%. Giant chipmaker Nvidia, whose high-end chips have emerged as the best building blocks for artificial intelligence, rose 1.8% after saying it would buy the AI platform Hugging Face for $13 billion.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude edged up 65 cents to $91.95 a barrel. Brent crude rose 47 cents to $95.99 a barrel.

The six-month-long U.S. war with Iran, which has intensified lately, is the main cause behind the recent surge in energy prices.

Many nations around the world, including Japan which imports virtually all its oil, depend on access to the Strait of Hormuz to import oil from the Middle East.

Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for U.S. bombardments earlier in the week.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, dropped to 4.77% from 4.79% late Wednesday. It has been rising steadily throughout the year and was as low as 4.20% at the beginning of 2026.

On interest rates, some investors are taking the recent remarks by Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller as a sign that perhaps the Fed isn’t as likely to raise its short-term interest rates at its next policy meeting in two weeks as previously expected.

Waller said that, if new data next week shows inflation is cooling, he “would be inclined” to keep the Fed’s benchmark interest rate unchanged. Should the data show hotter inflation, he would consider a rate hike.

Market players are also closely watching what Japan's central bank might do on interest rates when its policy board meets later this month. Some analysts expect the Bank of Japan to raise its benchmark rate, and the question is by how much. Some reports say Japan is facing pressures to raise the interest rate so that the yen will move higher.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 155.78 Japanese yen from 155.84 yen. The euro cost $1.1633, little changed from $1.1631.

AP Business Writer Alex Veiga contributed to this report.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

Specialist Anthony Matesic works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)