The Pittsburgh Steelers continued their busy free agency with the signing of Markus Golden, addressing the much-needed experienced depth on the edge that we’ve been clamoring for at Steelers Depot. Today I wanted to provide some data context to what he provided last season as a pass rusher, along with Pittsburgh’s edge rushers as well.
Let’s get right to it, starting with 2022 pass rush snaps and pass rush wins versus blocking from PFF to get a gauge of the position comparatively.
Right away we see Golden was above the mean in both data points last season when he played in all 17 games, with the 16th rank last season in pass snaps (514) along with tying for 15th in pass rush wins (70). These are very encouraging results, providing great availability at his age (32) and a high number of wins in comparison to the 90 qualifying edge rushers. Alex Highsmith was also above the mean in both, with the fifth most pass snaps (587) at the position in 2022, and had 55 pass rush wins which ranked 35th. T.J. Watt landed below the mean, missing time due to his injury in 2022, with just 313 pass snaps (T-66th) and 46 pass rush wins (T-47th). If either starter were to miss substantial time again (knocks on wood), the improved depth that Golden could provide is promising for 2023. The chart further illustrates this point, as we see Malik Reed had the third-most pass snaps for Pittsburgh in 2022, but the least of the qualifying players along with 16 pass rush wins, which was third least. Quite a difference between Reed and Golden, which has me optimistic moving forward.
Now let’s look at hurries and total pressures to see how the players fared affecting the quarterback:
Highsmith had the best results of the players we’re focused on, with 35 hurries, which tied for 21st, and 55 total pressures, tied for 19th. The jump he made last season was encouraging, especially when accounting for Watt’s seven-game absence, highlighted by Highsmith’s sixth-most sacks (14.5) in 2022. Golden had the second-best results through Steelers lenses, with an above average total pressures (46) that tied for 32nd, but slightly below average 25 hurries (T-42nd), and just 2.5 sacks (T-158th). So, Golden did defeat several blocks in his matchups, but hopefully he can maximize by getting home on his opportunities more this year than he did in 2022. Watt had 20 hurries (T-60th) and 31 total pressures (62nd), along with 5.5 sacks (T-64th). Not to compare Golden to Watt, but we get context through their snap counts, particularly in the sack numbers that will hopefully increase for the former. Reed lands at the extreme bottom left again, with six hurries, which tied for second least, 10 total pressures (second least), and just one sack.
Next, I’d like to provide an interesting formula from PFF called Pass Rush Productivity (PRP), which is defined as the amount of pressure accumulated per pass rush snap, also giving weight towards sacks along with pass snaps. Here’s a similar view to the prior graph with the overall result along with true pass sets:
This view really adds value with the stronger weight of availability, opportunity, and of course the ultimate goal of sacking the quarterback. None of the focused players were above the mean in both data points. Highsmith had the best balance of the two again, with a PRP result that tied for 37th league-wide, and his true pass set PRP landed 51st. Watt was also above average in PRP (T-43rd), but had the third rank of the highlighted players in true pass set PRP (T-59th). So, both starters for Pittsburgh last season were more productive across all pass rush opportunities, as opposed to faring stronger in more ideal true pass sets. Golden fits this bill, with a slightly above average true pass set PRP that topped the players in our sights today (44th overall), and below average PRP that ranked 68th, which means he excelled more in expected circumstances. Reed lands toward the bottom again, with the third-lowest PRP and sixth-lowest true pass set PRP, so his production also came in similar situations overall.
Here are total pass rush and true pass set win percentages (excludes play action, screens, short dropbacks, and time to throw numbers under two seconds), eliminating most plays in which the pass rusher was less likely to produce:
This data set is something Golden fared very well in last year, with above average marks in both, ranking best of the highlighted players in true pass set win rate (29th) along with a 33rd ranked pass rush win percentage. Watt was also above the mean in win percentages, topping the list through Steelers lenses (28th) in pass rush win percentage, and 38th in true pass set win rate. The other players in our sights were below the mean in both, with Highsmith tying for 68th in pass rush win percentage and landing 75th in true pass set win rate, highlighting room for growth in 2023 to make an impact on a more consistent basis across his snaps. Reed bottoms another list, with the sixth-lowest pass rush win percentage, while tying for 79th in true pass set win rate.
To close, here are PFF grades for the position group in the same situations (overall/true pass sets):
In PFF grades, Highsmith was the only player above the mean in both. His pass rush grade ranked 35th, and landed 27th in true pass sets. Hopefully he can continue to build upon his game in his fourth season, providing more consistency with Watt (fingers crossed) on the field more in 2023. The latter ranked 32nd in PFF pass rush grade, and slightly below league average in true pass sets (43rd). Golden was below the mean in both, T-52nd in PFF pass rush grade and a slightly better at 47th in true pass sets, highlighting again his success coming in more ideal situations. We got comparative data context throughout the article to why it didn’t work out with Reed in Pittsburgh, on the bottom left again with the sixth lowest PFF pass rush grade and tying for 80th in true pass set grade. Here’s to hoping Golden’s stronger marks across the study can carry over to his black and gold journey in 2023.
Overall for Golden, he was above average in opportunities (playing in every game last season), pass rush wins, total pressures, pass rush win percentage, and true pass set win rates. He was slightly above average in true pass set PRP, just below the mean in true pass set PFF grade, and his below average marks came in hurries, PRP, and PFF pass rush grade. So, his recent durability and ability to defeat blocks were encouraging strong suits as highlighted by the data, but it didn’t lead to high productivity across the board. He particularly had stronger production in true pass sets, while having lower results in hurries and sacks considering his snap counts, which obviously have a greater impact on the opposing quarterback. Hopefully Golden can provide quality snaps behind Watt and Highsmith, with the study leaving me optimistic that the rotation on the edge will be stronger in 2023.
What are your thoughts on the data? Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
