Continuing the series, I wanted to look at defensive tackles, where Pittsburgh selected Keeanu Benton at pick 49 in the second round. Following my 2022 run defense and pass rush studies on him when he fared extremely well in both, today’s goal is to look at the 2021 season in run defense using Sports Info Solutions (SIS). The article will focus on the players who heard their names called in the 2023 NFL draft, 300+ pounders that will likely play on the interior (as Benton is projected to), and one player was excluded due to SIS not tracking smaller schools. The goal is to see how Benton stacked up among his peers.
First, let’s look at rush snaps along with their total snaps to get a gauge of the players opportunities, and how often they were able to stay on the field for their squads last season:
Benton landed above the mean in both, with 206 rush snaps which ranked fifth of the 13 qualifying players, 437 total snaps (fourth), playing in every game in 2021. He also provided this encouraging availability in 2022, showing great toughness to return quickly from injury in each season to play every game his final two years, which is admirable and needed in the NFL. Knock on wood that is something he continues to provide in Pittsburgh. Benton had slightly more snap opportunities in 2021 than his final season, when he had 420 total snaps and 203 rush snaps. So, very comparable opportunities, and important context as we dive deeper.
Next, let’s look at a very important aspect of being a quality run defender, tackling. The chart below looks at the players tackles per game and average tackle depth, with the latter suggesting quality play up front and attacking the line of scrimmage:
First off, we see that three players had an average tackle depth at or behind the line of scrimmage. Then there’s Benton, who ranked fourth with a 0.9 average tackle depth and was the final player above the mean. The quantity was not there comparatively though, with a below-average 2.2 tackles per game that ranked ninth. He improved his production in both regards in 2022, with an average tackle depth of -0.1 (second) and 3.1 tackles per game (sixth). Very encouraging improvements overall, and particularly hoping the former shows up in the black and gold, with an ability to quickly penetrate to disrupt plays likely one of the attributes Pittsburgh was attracted to.
This next view attempts to weigh positive and negative plays, using broken and missed tackle rates (negative plays) along with Sports Info Solutions’ positive play % which is the rate of run plays with the player on the field resulted in a positive expected points added (EPA), with lower percentages being the best:
What jumps out right away is Benton’s positive percentage (33.5%) which ranked second, only a shade behind Georgia’s Jalen Carter. Benton also ranked second in this regard in 2022 (32%), which highlights him as an important cog in the middle for the Badgers run defense in both seasons. He was below average in broken/missed tackle rate in 2021 though (10.3%) which ranked sixth. This was another area he improved upon last year, impressively cutting that number in half (5.1%) which ranked third on virtually the same snap opportunities, and here’s to hoping that continues in Pittsburgh.
To close, here is a more total view of the players in the run game using points saved per play (the total of a player’s EPA responsibility on run plays using the Total Points system that distributes credit among all players on the field for a given play (with positive numbers being good). Totals are scaled up to map to the average points scored or allowed on a team level, with the player’s snap count determining how much to adjust.
For run defense, that includes accounting for defenders in the box, blown blocks forced, broken tackles, turnovers, and turnover returns.) and points above average per play (using the same Total Points system and putting a number to their value above an average level player):
Here we see Benton provided strong total value in the run game, ranking third in both data points. He was encouragingly even stronger in 2022, ranking first in points above average per play and second in points saved per play, so consistently in the top three his final two seasons for Wisconsin, while showing the wanted improvements overall his final season. In 2021, Benton was top five in snap opportunities, average tackle depth, positive rate, points saved, and points above average. His below-the-mean results were tackles per game and broken/missed tackle rates but impressively improved in both last season when his only below-the-mean result was total snaps.
He also fared very well as a pass rusher in 2022, and I’m excited to dive into his 2021 contributions in that facet of the game soon. Knock on wood, Benton can man the middle as the missing ingredient to a hopefully stronger run defense and 2023 defensive line as a whole.
Throughout the rest of the offseason, I will dive deeper into the data as we continue to learn about the newest Pittsburgh Steelers. How do you think Keeanu Benton will fare in his rookie year? Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
