Let’s start with this: defense wins championships. (Yeah, yeah, I know it’s a cliché. But you know what else is a cliché? Eating snacks during a game, and we still do that too.) And in 2024, nobody—NOBODY—embodied defensive excellence quite like Patrick Surtain II. Forget the stat sheet warriors who rack up sacks or interceptions for glory; Surtain’s game is different. It’s surgical. It’s ruthless. It’s, well, unstoppable.
And that’s why he’s the PFT Defensive Player of the Year for 2024.
Now, you might be thinking, “Wait, didn’t Myles Garrett have more sacks? Didn’t Kerby Joseph snag more picks?” Sure, fine, you caught me there. But here’s the thing: Surtain didn’t just defend. He erased people. Pro Bowlers, no less. The kind of guys who usually make corners look like they’re chasing ghosts.
Let’s break it down. Against five Pro Bowl pass-catchers—Zay Flowers, Jerry Jeudy, Ja’Marr Chase, Travis Kelce, and Brock Bowers—Surtain allowed a grand total of six catches. Six. On 16 targets. That’s a 37.5% completion rate, for those of you keeping score at home. Oh, and those catches amounted to a measly 56 yards. Fifty. Six. He might as well have been wrapping them in Saran Wrap for how tightly he covered them.
Oh, and the passer rating when targeting him? A laughable 8.3. If you threw the ball into the dirt every play, you’d have a better rating. Let that marinate.
But wait—there’s more. Surtain also had four interceptions, one of which he turned into a 100-yard pick-six, the kind of play that makes you yell at the TV even if your team isn’t involved. Add 11 passes defensed, 45 tackles, a forced fumble, and a recovery, and you start to wonder: does the man sleep? Or is he just dreaming up new ways to humiliate quarterbacks?
What really sets him apart, though, isn’t just the stats (impressive as they are). It’s his consistency. Game after game, he went up against the NFL’s best and made them look ordinary. His best work came when the spotlight burned brightest. It’s like he was saying, “Oh, you’re a Pro Bowler? Cute. Watch this.”
And let’s not forget his lineage. The man’s dad, Patrick Surtain Sr., was a Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro back in the day. Clearly, the apple didn’t just fall close to the tree—it probably climbed back up and reattached itself.
Of course, we’ve got to give a shoutout to the other contenders for Defensive Player of the Year. Myles Garrett? Beast. 14 sacks and 22 tackles for loss will do that. Trey Hendrickson led the league with 17.5 sacks, while Zack Baun racked up a ridiculous 151 tackles. And then there’s Derek Stingley Jr. and Kerby Joseph, whose interception totals (five and nine, respectively) made quarterbacks question their life choices.
But here’s the thing: none of them shut down the league’s best quite like Surtain. None of them made their presence felt on every single play the way he did. He didn’t just play defense—he dictated the game.
So, hats off to Patrick Surtain II, the unstoppable force of the 2024 NFL season. He’s the kind of player who makes you want to rewatch highlights, just to see how he did it. The kind of player who makes opposing offenses wish they’d stayed in bed. And the kind of player who reminds us why we love this game in the first place.
P.S. If you’re reading this, Pat, teach me your ways. My fantasy team’s secondary could use the help.
P.P.S. Did I just write a love letter to a cornerback? Maybe. Do I regret it? Absolutely not.