If for some inexplicable reason Super Bowl LIX was the first football game you had ever watched, you would’ve likely come away from that game believing that Josh Sweat was one of the best football players in the entire world. The former Philadelphia Eagle had his way with the depleted offensive line of the Kansas City Chiefs, notching 6 tackles, 3 QB hits and 2.5 sacks in the biggest game of his career.
Now Josh Sweat is a member of the Arizona Cardinals after general manager Monti Ossenfort rewarded the 28-year-old outside linebacker with a four-year, $76 million contract, and coming off of that dominant Super Bowl performance, Sweat was recently named the 95th best player in the league according to the NFL’s annual player survey.
Given the stakes, it’s unlikely that Josh Sweat will ever play a better or more meaningful game than he did this past February when the Lombardi Trophy was on the line, but it’s possible that a move out west and the chance to reunite with an important figure in the story of his career could bring out the most consistent version of Sweat we’ve seen.
Josh Sweat’s Best Football Came Under Jonathan Gannon
The best and most consistent stretch of Josh Sweat’s NFL career came during the 2021 and 2022 campaigns with the Eagles. Over the course of these two seasons, Sweat notched a combined 18.5 sacks and earned his first and so far only Pro Bowl nod for his effort. It’s likely not a coincidence that his defensive coordinator each of those two seasons was Jonathan Gannon.
Gannon parlayed the success of those two seasons in Philadelphia, capped by a Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 2022 season, into an offer from the Arizona Cardinals to become the franchise’s eighth head coach this century. Arizona is just 12-22 in Gannon’s tenure, but with continuity along the offense and numerous new faces — which should be upgrades — on the defense, 2025 could be the year where the Cardinals break through and fly back to the Playoffs.
Josh Sweat Speaks on Continuity With Jonathan Gannon
The Cardinals are counting on Sweat to take on a leadership role on a defense that will include a handful of rookies and young players that are expected to make a big impact in 2025. But beyond his status as a veteran who understands the demands of life in the NFL and can properly articulate the expectations to those younger players, Sweat’s quickly readapt to a scheme that he says is “pretty much the same” will help him hit the ground running in Arizona.
“The scheme and stuff, you can play fast in it,” Sweat said July 3 according to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com. “So, picking up on it, it is pretty easy. It ain’t going to take me long at all.”
If it’s as easy in execution as he makes it sound like it is, then Josh Sweat could be on the verge of another season of terror with Jonathan Gannon on the sideline. And that means next year at this time, he could be shooting up the NFL 100 list, even if he doesn’t have another dominant Super Bowl showing to show for it.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Will Cardinals’ Josh Sweat Take It Up A Level Following NFL 100 Debut? appeared first on Heavy Sports.