The Pittsburgh Steelers’ busy free agency included the signing of safety Keanu Neal. Today I wanted to provide some data context to what he provided last season in pass-rushing situations following my coverage and run defense articles on him, along with Pittsburgh’s 2022 safeties, and how they stacked up at the position to players with at least 150 pass snaps across the NFL last season.
Let’s get right to it, starting with 2022 pass snaps and pass-rush snaps to get a gauge of the position comparatively.
Here we see Neal led the players in our sights in pass-rush snap opportunities (24). That ranked an above-average 23rd out of the 95 qualifying players at the position last season, on a well-below-the mean 341 total pass snaps, which ranked 74th. This highlights him being utilized at a higher rate than several safeties as a pass rusher (7%), which ranked 13th, and provides important context as we dive deeper. Pittsburgh’s 2022 starting safeties led the way in pass snaps, starting with Minkah Fitzpatrick, who had 571 pass snaps (33rd) and was third among focused players in pass rush snaps (12). That tied a below-the-mean 47th, which is not surprising as a primary deep safety. Former Steeler Terrell Edmunds (now with the Eagles) had 532 pass snaps (40th) and landed just above average in pass in pass rush snaps (18), which tied for 33rd.
Then we have Damontae Kazee and Tre Norwood, who had limited opportunities comparatively last season. Kazee had 197 pass snaps (T-88th) and four pass rush snaps, which tied for 80th. Norwood had 175 pass snaps (T-91st) and three pass rush snaps (T-84th). It will be interesting to see who fills the void of Edmunds’ vacated snaps in 2023, with lack of sample size from the 2022 Steelers not named Fitzpatrick making for an uncertain projection this season. Curious to see if Neal is still utilized at a high rate as a pass rusher, along with the hope for Kazee to remain healthy (knock on wood) as the leaders in the clubhouse in my opinion with more experience, and if Norwood can carve out a role.
Now let’s look at hurries and total pressures to see how the players fared affecting the quarterback:
Neal led the highlighted players with seven total pressures (T-14th), highlighted by tying for the most quarterback hits (four). That adds data context to his strong reputation in that regard, along with a half sack, and landed at the league mean in hurries with two (T-30th). In comparison, Edmunds had fewer total pressures (four), which tied for 26th, no quarterback hits, matched Neal in hurries (two), but had the edge in the ultimate goal of bringing down the quarterback with two sacks. I do like the chances of Neal providing more across the board including sacks, especially if his opportunities increase from last season as a nice cog in Pittsburgh’s stout pass rush (barring injuries).
Fitzpatrick led the focused players with four hurries (T-11th). That is very impressive considering his primarily deep safety alignments, and he matched Edmunds with four total pressures, along with a quarterback hit and no sacks. Kazee and Norwood were two of 19 safeties to have no production in these terms. It will be interesting to see if their pass rush snaps increase in 2023, and if either (particularly Kazee, in my opinion) can provide something there.
Next, I’d like to provide an interesting formula from PFF called Pass Rush Productivity (PRP). It is defined as the amount of pressure accumulated per pass rush snap, also giving weight towards sacks along with pass snaps, along with pass rush wins versus blocking:
In terms of PRP, Fitzpatrick, Edmunds, and Neal interestingly landed very similar above the mean, ranking 22nd, 23rd, and 25th respectively. Neal impressively had the most pass rush wins (three), which tied for sixth in the league on less opportunity, highlighting an ability to defeat blocks as a pass rusher last season that he can hopefully carry over to Pittsburgh. Edmunds was also above the mean in pass rush wins (two) on less pass rush snaps, so comparable quality given their opportunities. Fitzpatrick was at the league average for safeties with just one pass rush win (T-27th), but again was not asked to pass rush often with his elite coverage skills. Kazee and Norwood obviously bottom the chart again with lack of opportunity/production.
To close, here are the position groups pass rush win rates and PFF grades:
Here we see Neal and Edmunds on similar points of the chart, particularly comparable in pass rush win rates. Neal led the players we’re focused on with a 13% pass rush win rate that ranked 14th in the NFL, along with a 74.2 pass rush grade that ranked 13th. Edmunds had the strongest pass rush grade (77.2) through Steelers lenses, which ranked a strong ninth in the league, and slightly below Neal with a 11.8% pass rush win rate (17th).
Fitzpatrick had a slightly above average pass-rush win percentage of 9.1%, which tied for 29th, while curiously having the lowest 52.1 pass rush grade, which ranked 85th in the NFL. Would be interested to hear their justification of being below Kazee and Norwood with no stat production from them and considering Fitzpatrick’s role with Pittsburgh. Regardless of this and zero percent pass-rush win rates, Norwood earned a 58.6 pass rush grade, which ranked 60th, with Kazee coming in at 52.7 (83rd).
So, Neal fared well as a pass rusher overall, only below the mean in pass-snap opportunities, and can’t wait to see how it pans out in Pittsburgh. He tied for the most quarterback hits in the league, which is a fitting and welcomed part of his game. He tied for sixth in pass-rush wins showing an ability to defeat blocks. He had top-15 ranks in pass-rush percentage, pass-rush win rate, total pressures, and pass-rush grade on above average pass-rush snap opportunities, which could be a nice addition to an already strong Pittsburgh pass rush. He was also above average in PRP and was at league average in hurries.
I’m very encouraged by the results for Neal as a pass rusher, along with strengths as a run defender, but coverage was a weak point last season. Very similar attributes to Edmunds and can’t wait to see if he can fill this void in 2023, along with how the other safeties play into the equation, particularly Kazee who had an unfortunate lack of opportunity due to injury in 2022. Knock on wood it’s a healthy and productive season for the position room and can’t wait to see how it pans out.
What are your thoughts on the data and the 2023 outlook at the position? Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
