Last look back at the 2019 Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason. Notable notes from the defensive charting I do on a weekly basis. For this set of data, we’ll focus more on the individual than the schematic.
Top five leaders in snaps:
Tuzar Skipper: 152
Cam Sutton: 137
Kam Kelly: 136
Ulysees Gilbert III: 133
Tyler Matakevich: 125
All five made the team though the man with the 6th most snaps, Marcus Allen with 115, did not.
Defensive Line
Here are the pressure numbers for all defensive linemen during the preseason.
Pressure Leaders:
Daniel McCullers: 3
Henry Mondeaux: 2
Isaiah Buggs: 2
Winston Craig: 2
Stephon Tuitt: 2
Conor Sheehy: 1
Casey Sayles: 1
Javon Hargrave: 1
Cam Heyward: 1
Not much to note here. Big Dan routinely was able to collapse the pocket. Mondeaux was an even more effective pass rusher than the numbers may indicate while Tuitt and Heyward did their damage in the tune up game against the Titans.
Linebackers
– Devin Bush logged 91 snaps.
The pressure numbers for the linebackers are much more impressive, even the off-ball players. Here’s the data.
Tuzar Skipper: 11
Ulysees Gilbert III: 6
Tyler Matakevich: 5
Robert Spillane: 5
TJ Watt: 5
JT Jones: 5
Sutton Smith: 3
Tegray Scales: 3
Bud Dupree: 3
Ola Adeniyi: 2
Jayrone Elliott: 1
Vince Williams: 1
Christian Kuntz: 1
Skipper had nearly double the pressures of second place Gilbert. JT Jones weirdly had five in the opener versus Tampa Bay. Didn’t recall the number being that high. Spillane routinely blew up RBs one-on-one, earning him a spot on the practice squad.
Notable target numbers:
Robert Spillane: 6/9 102 yards
Devin Bush: 4/5 59 yards
Tyler Matakevich: 3/4 50 yards
Ulysees Gilbert III: 2/4 11 yards 0 TDs, 1 INT
Mark Barron: 1/2 4 yards
Wouldn’t be alarmed about Bush’s numbers. Stats don’t always provide the context and his coverage overall was good. Gilbert did a nice job while Spillane got whipped down the seam, though some of those were unfortunate matchups carrying receivers in zone coverage.
Secondary
Targets numbers for each player in the secondary.
Justin Layne: 7/12 99 yards 1 TD
Artie Burns:Â 2/8 20 yards
Trevon Mathis: 5/7 57 yards
Dravon Askew-Henry: 4/7 32 yards
Marcus Allen: 5/6 39 yards 1 TD, 0 INTs
Cam Sutton: 3/6 75 yards 0 TDs, 1 INT
Mike Hilton: 2/5 44 yards 1 TD
Steven Nelson: 1/4 6 yards
PJ Locke: 3/3 36 yards
Sean Davis: 1/3 9 yards
Brian Allen: 1/3 10 yards
Kam Kelly: 1/2 3 yards
Marcelis Branch: 1/3 13 yards 0 TDs, 1 INT
Jhavonte Dean: 0/2 0 yards
Terrell Edmunds: 0/2 0 yards
Small sample sizes makes this tough to draw a lot of conclusions. Layne and Allen don’t have great numbers. Sutton was better in coverage than the stats suggest. Burns 25% completion rate allowed is an awesome number for him. Strong preseason is what gives him one more shot on the roster.
