I know the season has long passed us. Maybe it was the Senior Bowl or just the fact the Pittsburgh Steelers were barely sacked this season, but I never got around to the final data for this year’s sack breakdown. So here are the final regular season and playoff totals.
2016 Regular Season Sack Breakdown
Alejandro Villanueva: 4.5
Marcus Gilbert: 4
Ben Roethlisberger: 3.5
Ramon Foster: 2
David DeCastro: 2
Jesse James: 1.5
B.J. Finney: 1
Fitzgerald Toussaint: 1
Antonio Brown: .5
Le’Veon Bell: .5
Landry Jones: .5
And the regular season penalty counter.
David DeCastro: 11
Alejandro Villanueva: 6
Marcus Gilbert: 5
B.J. Finney: 2
Chris Hubbard: 2
Maurkice Pouncey: 2
Ramon Foster: 1
And if you’re curious, the same figures if we include the playoffs.
Regular Season + Playoff Sack Totals
Alejandro Villanueva: 5
Marcus Gilbert: 4
Ben Roethlisberger: 3.5
David DeCastro: 2.5
Ramon Foster: 2
Jesse James: 1.5
B.J. Finney: 1
Fitzgerald Toussaint: 1
Defensive Coverage: .5
Antonio Brown: .5
Le’Veon Bell: .5
Landry Jones: .5
Todd Haley: .5
Regular Season + Playoff Penalty Totals
David DeCastro: 12
Alejandro Villanueva: 6
Marcus Gilbert: 5
B.J. Finney: 2
Chris Hubbard: 2
Maurkice Pouncey: 2
Ramon Foster: 2
There were no sacks nor penalties given up in the AFC Title Game against the New England Patriots.
Finally, for applicable players, let’s compare 2015 to 2016. The 2015 regular season total will be in parentheses next to 2016’s mark.
Sacks:
Alejandro Villanueva: 4.5 (5.5)
Marcus Gilbert: 4 (1.5)
Ben Roethlisberger: 3.5 (1.5)
Ramon Foster: 2 (2.5)
David DeCastro: 2 (2.5)
Jesse James: 1.5 (0)
B.J. Finney: 1 (0)
Fitzgerald Toussaint: 1 (0)
Antonio Brown: .5 (.5)
Le’Veon Bell: .5 (0)
Landry Jones: .5 (0)
And penalties…
David DeCastro: 11 (2)
Alejandro Villanueva: 6 (1)
Marcus Gilbert: 5 (6)
B.J. Finney: 2 (0)
Chris Hubbard: 2 (0)
Maurkice Pouncey: 2 (0)
Ramon Foster: 1 (3)
Some notes and other nuggets of info.
– This year, I have the offensive line responsible for just 13.5. That’s a decrease from last year when the line gave up 20. So that’s a significant improvement.
– Marcus Gilbert saw the biggest increase in sacks allowed. Perhaps some of that is attributed to the numerous injuries he played with this season. I still thought he had a good year, especially considering the circumstances.
– For as much flack as David DeCastro received about his pass protection this season, some of it deserved no doubt, he ended up allowing less sacks this year than last. The penalties though, whew, monster increase, to the point where I can’t really explain it.
– Ditto with Alejandro Villanueva on the penalties. His technique was really good last year, even if his overall play wasn’t as strong, but he had more trouble this season. Of course, he did play more games but still, it’s above the extrapolation.
– In order to make the sacks more relative, here is the sacks per pass protection ratio for each offensive linemen.
Davis DeCastro: 308.5
Ramon Foster: 262
B.J. Finney: 171
Alejandro Villanueva: 137.1
Marcus Gilbert: 118
– Maurkice Pouncey did not allow a sack this season, regular season or playoff, which is just totally ludicrous. He was penalized just twice and probably the best statistical season we’ve ever looked at for Depot.
– Over the last seven weeks, Villanueva allowed just one sack. So he showed a lot of improvement to round things out. That number goes to just 1.5 sacks if you count the playoffs, a span of ten games.
– Ditto with Gilbert, who allowed just half a sack over that same timeframe. Half a sack allowed in ten games is excellent.
– Ramon Foster had an awesome season and one that’s definitely been overlooked. Over the full 19 game slate, he allowed just two sacks and was penalized only two times.
And over his last 30 regular season games, he’s given up just 4.5 sacks and been penalize four times.
