Diving back into the stats for this post. Pro Football Reference is one of our go-to references when it comes to finding information and collecting quirky stats. They’ve coined their own way to value a player, essentially their equivalent of baseball’s WAR, though they make clear it’s not quite as strong of a stat. It’s called Approximate Value (AV) and defined as:
“the Approximate Value (AV) method is an attempt to put a single number on the seasonal value of a player at any position from any year (since 1960).”
It primarily uses baseline stats. Participation is given one weight as is overall statistics and accolades like Pro Bowls and All-Pro seasons. It’s a little volume-heavy, those who start and play more have an upperhand, but in its totality, it’s a useful stat to offer a baseline of how good a player’s season was.
In Pittsburgh Steelers’ history, the highest single-season AV belongs to LB Jack Lambert in 1976 and Rod Woodson twice, once in 1990 and again in 1994. They both finished their seasons with a 20 Approximate Value.
Who were the team’s top five in 2022? Let’s find out.
1. FS Minkah Fitzpatrick – 11 AV
A career-year for Fitzpatrick, ending the season with a career-high six interceptions. He was named to the Pro Bowl and All-Pro team. His 11 pass deflections tied a single-season best and his picks tied for the league-lead. Fitzpatrick did it all despite playing in only 15 games, missing contests against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints. Compared to 2021, Fitzpatrick’s tackles decreased but that was a good thing and sign of a strong Steelers’ front seven.
His value matches with how the team voted, Fitzpatrick elected the Steelers’ Team MVP for 2022.
2. DE Cam Heyward – 11 AV
I’m not sure if PFR has a tiebreaker with their AV, it seems they do, and they gave Fitzpatrick the nod slightly over Heyward. Heyward’s year was blistering in Week One, recording a sack on the first play of the season, but slowed while T.J. Watt was shelved with his pectoral injury. Heyward saw more attention until Watt returned and then resumed his typical strong play. He finished 2022 with 10.5 sacks, the second-most he’s ever had in a season and poetically started and ended the year with a sack. Pretty neat.
3. EDGE Alex Highsmith – 8 AV
It was a breakout year for Highsmith who put up 14.5 sacks and – don’t forget – five forced fumbles. The former stat ranked sixth in the NFL while the latter tied for the NFL’s best. Highsmith began the three year with a three-sack performance against the Cincinnati Bengals and ended up with a 2.5 sack showing versus the Cleveland Browns. It was a strong and well-rounded year and he was a beacon of health. Highsmith played in all 17 games and logged 88% of the defensive snaps, which helped his AV. Frankly, it feels like it should be higher.
4. OT Dan Moore Jr. – 8 AV
A name you might not expect to see here, offensive linemen are tough to rank from an Approximate Value perspective. It certainly helps that not only did Moore not miss a game, he didn’t miss a single snap, and steadily improved throughout the season. But his 8 AV is higher than expected and betters James Daniels and Chukwuma Okorafor, who both had a 7 AV despite playing in all 17 games.
5. EDGE T.J. Watt – 8 AV
It is curious to see Watt crack the top-five despite missing half the season, especially for a stat that weighs participation. Across the entire NFL, Watt and Los Angeles Rams’ WR Cooper Kupp were the only two players with at least an eight AV despite playing in ten or fewer games.
When available, Watt was his usually dominant self. His Week One performance against the Bengals was absurd, taking over the game, and he immediately made his presence known in his return after the bye against the Saints. Still, he only ended the year with 5.5 sacks in ten games, a much lower rate than he’s used to and I’m not sure what he did to have an AV that ties Highsmith, who was statistically far more productive. And AV weighs only baseline and “common” stats.
Final Thoughts
Obviously, this doesn’t mean a whole lot. But quantifying “value” in football has been an ongoing challenge, one that’s newer and harder than baseball. It’s worth exploring what sites like PFR has to say and who they believe were among the most valuable Steelers. Certainly, Fitzpatrick, Heyward, Highsmith, and Watt will be key players for the 2023 Steelers while Moore will be if he can hold off rookie Broderick Jones for the left tackle job.
