Nearing the end of the series, I wanted to circle back to edge rusher Markus Golden following my 2022 pass rush and run defense articles on him. Today I wanted to look at pass rush data from the 2021 season on Golden, along with 2021 Steelers, and see how they fared across the NFL at the position.
Let’s get right to it, starting with 2022 pass-rush snaps and pass-rush wins versus blocking from Pro Football Focus to get a gauge of the position comparatively:
Encouraging results to start, with all three players in our sights above the mean in both data points out of the 83 qualifying NFL edge rushers. Starting with the newest Steeler, Golden had 448 pass snaps in 2021 (33rd), along with 47 pass-rush wins (T-30th) while playing in 16 games. He also provided encouraging availability last season (17 games), with an even higher 514 pass snaps (16th) and 70 pass rush wins, which tied for 15th in the league. While his role will be different in the Black and Gold barring injury, this emphasizes the strong depth that was barren prior to Pittsburgh signing Golden.
T.J. Watt led the focused players with 62 pass rush wins in 2021, which tied for 12th in the NFL, an above average number at his 461 pass snaps (31st), highlighted by landing comfortably above the trendline in 15 games. He, of course, dealt with an injury last season, with just 313 pass snaps (T-66th) and 46 pass rush wins (T-47th) in 10 games, which surely made Pittsburgh extremely motivated and excited to get Golden. Alex Highsmith led the highlighted group in 2021 with 509 pass snaps (20th) and had 53 pass rush wins (T-18th) in 16 games. He was also encouragingly available (all 17 games) and above average in both last year with the fifth-most pass snaps (587) at the position and had 55 pass rush wins but ranked lower at 35th. Of course, a big factor in that was Watt’s seven-game absence and teams being able to focus on him more. Here’s to hoping the trio can stay healthy this season; the position room definitely looks better with Golden in it.
Now let’s look at hurries and total pressures to see how the players fared affecting the quarterback:
What jumps out right away is that all three of the players we’re focused on were below the league mean in hurries in 2021. Watt landed just below that mark with 25 (T-35th) and led the highlighted group with a strong 62 total pressures. That tied for 10th in the NFL, including a league leading 22.5 sacks in his Defensive Player of the Year campaign. In his shortened 2022 season, he had 20 hurries (T-60th) and 31 total pressures (62nd), along with 5.5 sacks (T-64th). Golden was also above the mean in total pressures in 2021 (44). That tied for 32nd, along with 24 hurries (T-40th), including a healthy 11 sacks that impressively tied for 11th in the league. Last season he was above average in total pressures (46), also tied for 32nd. He was slightly below average with 25 hurries (T-42nd), but the big difference was just 2.5 sacks. Very similar hurry and pressure stats each year, and hopefully he can maximize his opportunities in the sack department, which substantially fell off despite more snap opportunities. Highsmith landed below the mean in both in 2021, with 19 hurries (T-59th), 35 total pressures (T-49th), along with six sacks. He stepped up substantially in 2022, with 35 hurries (T-21st) and 55 total pressures (T-19th), highlighted by sixth most sacks (14.5) in the NFL. If the three edge rushers can align a quality season together, look out.
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:
Watt and Golden land on the top right as expected, with the PRP formula adding sacks into the equation. In 2021, Watt had the second rank in PRP along with his true pass set PRP coming in seventh, compared to a slightly above average PRP (T-43rd), and tied for 59th in true pass set PRP last year. Golden was much better in 2021 in both, with his true pass set PRP tying for 21st along with a strong PRP (T-23rd), compared to last year’s slightly above average true pass set PRP that topped the highlighted players (44th overall). It was a significant drop in PRP that ranked 68th, which means he excelled far more in expected circumstances most recently. Highsmith landed below the mean in both data points again in 2021, ranking 67th in PRP and in true pass sets, compared to a PRP result that tied for a much better 37th leaguewide. His true pass set PRP landed 51st in 2022.
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:
Once again, we see Watt and Golden above the mean in both, along with all three being above the line in pass rush win percentage in 2021. Watt landed a bit lower in the rates view than the previous chart, with his 15.8% pass rush win rate ranking 11th along with his 19.8 true pass set number ranking 19th. Last year he was also above the mean in both, with a 28th-ranked pass rush win rate and was 38th in true pass sets. In 2021, Golden had a 13.1 pass rush win percentage, which ranked 22nd and an 18.6% rate in true pass sets. That was 21st at the position, compared to a slight downtrend to 29th in true pass sets and 33rd in pass rush win percentage, which is an encouraging caveat to his lack of sack production. Highsmith had a 12.4 pass rush win percentage (T-29th) and a 15% true pass set rate that was slightly below average and tied for 41st, compared to tying for 68th in pass rush win percentage and landing 75th in true pass set win rate last year, highlighting room for growth in 2023 to make an impact on a more consistent basis across his snaps than he did last year.
To close, here are PFF grades for the position group in the same situations (overall/true pass sets):
At the top of another chart, we see Watt as expected. He had the third-ranked 90.6 PFF pass rush grade, one of only four players at the position to eclipse 90, but a lower 85.4 grade in true pass sets (16th), as opposed to a 32nd rank in pass rush grade and slightly below league average in true pass sets (43rd) in 2022. Golden was encouragingly above the mean in both data points once again, with a 2021 pass rush grade of 72.1. That ranked 29th and a 73.2 in true pass sets ranked 32nd. But he regressed to below the mean in both last season, tying for 52nd in PFF pass rush grade and a slightly better 47th in true pass sets. Highsmith was third of the focused group as he was for much of today’s article, with a 67.7 pass rush grade (41st) and 70.2 in true pass sets (T-42nd). He followed that up with his stronger 2022 pass rush grade (35th) and 27th rank in true pass sets.
Overall, Golden had a productive 2021 season overall, highlighted by 11 sacks, which tied for 11th in the NFL. In this study he was above average in true pass set win rate (21st), pass rush win percentage (22nd), true pass set PRP (T-21st), PRP (T-23rd), pass rush grade (29th), pass rush wins (T-30th), total pressures (T-32nd), true pass set grade (32nd), pass snaps (33rd), very impressive marks among his peers. His only below average mark came in hurries (T-40th). In 2022, he was also encouragingly above average in opportunities, 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 — but was below average once again in hurries, along with PRP and PFF pass rush grade.
So, Golden has provided great availability the last two seasons, which is impressive at his age (32) and bodes well for the Steelers with Watt’s recent injury fresh on their mind. Golden has an ability to defeat blocks and win as a pass rusher as highlighted by the data, but it didn’t lead to high productivity across the board in 2022. Last year particularly he had stronger results in true pass sets (in more expected situations), along with lower numbers in hurries and sacks considering his snap counts. This will be very important to monitor, in my opinion, considering it obviously has a greater impact on the opposing quarterback, and will definitely be high on my radar this season. Hopefully Golden can provide quality snaps behind Watt and Highsmith, maximizing the lower snap counts he will see barring injury, and hopefully positively trending to his stronger 2021 season. One things for sure, the rotation on the edge has been bolstered. I can’t wait to see how the position room fares in 2023.
What are your thoughts on the data? Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
