Pat Surtain II receives high praise from one of the NFL’s top defensive minds

Pat Surtain II is the one player on the Denver Broncos that keeps opposing coaches up at night.

The 2024 Defensive Player of the Year has the ability to shut down an entire side of the gridiron by himself and is a headache for any opposing coach watching film in preparation for a bout with one of the best defenses in the league. He’s garnered a load of respect from coaches and his fellow players since entering the league in 2021, and the praise continued on Thursday.

Jonathan Gannon, the current head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and one of the best defensive minds in football, made sure to give Surtain his flowers ahead of the Cardinals’ joint practice with the Broncos in Denver.

“[Surtain’s] the best, probably, in the business right now, or one of the top couple,” Gannon said. “I got a high opinion of that guy. It’s going to be good, it’s going to be good back and forth, I know he’s excited, all of our receivers are excited, tight ends are excited. He’s a premium player that has done a really good job and it’ll be a good challenge for our guys.”

Gannon has been a defensive-minded coach since he first arrived in the NFL in 2007 as a defensive quality control coach with the Atlanta Falcons. He slowly climbed his way up the ranks until he landed his first job as a defensive coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021. He had his best year as a coach a year later in 2022, as his defensive scheme led the Eagles to an NFC Championship and nearly a Super Bowl title. The Eagles had the best pass defense and the second-best rush defense in the league that season.

While he hasn’t been able to have the same success in Arizona, Gannon is still one of the game’s best defensive minds. He just hasn’t had the same level of talent on the roster down in the desert that he had in the City of Brotherly Love. He’s coached plenty of talented cornerbacks throughout his time, including Darius Slay, Jason McCourty, Xavier Rhodes and Kenny Moore, but clearly sees Surtain on the top pedestal.

Gannon said that his guys are ready to take on the challenge that is Pat Surtain II, but it is still unclear how much he and the rest of the Broncos’ starting defense will play this weekend. He had a limited amount of reps, as he’s the last guy who needs to prove himself in the preseason, and given that Nik Bonitto isn’t practicing for a third straight day, it might be good for Sean Payton to hold out some of his top guys.

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