With 2023 training camp over and practices shifting back to Pittsburgh, the goal of these articles is to take news we are hearing, whether it be a quality practice, where players are lining up, etc., and using that as a launching board to learn more about our 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers. One caveat before I dive in: We, of course, do not want to make sweeping proclamations in the short term and see how the entirety of camp unfolds.
In a recent training camp diary by the great Alex Kozora, he noted a good practice from EDGE rusher Quincy Roche as a run defender: “Very good day for Quincy Roche, who was everywhere in the run game. Haven’t mentioned him much this summer but today was a much-needed good day.” With this in mind, let’s learn more about Roche.
Pro Bio: In 2021, Roche was drafted by the Steelers in the sixth round but was waived at the 53-man roster deadline. He was quickly claimed by the Giants, making his NFL debut in Week Three. He played in 14 games, with 401 defensive snaps. Last season, Roche similarly was an odd man out upon roster cutdowns for the Giants, then made it back to their active roster. He only appeared in two games with just six defensive snaps in 2022. Early in the 2023 calendar year, he made a return to Pittsburgh, which signed him to a Reserve/Future contract.
So, we can see that Roche got a reasonable amount of playing time to examine in 2021, after barely playing last season. First, I looked at some grades from Pro Football Focus (PFF) as a starting point, viewing edge rushers with a minimum of 400 defensive snaps (81 qualifiers): 59.6 defensive grade (61st), 68.4 run defense grade (T-24th), an impressive 74.1 tackling grade (ninth), 59.8 pass rush grade (64th), and 31.6 coverage grade (78th). His tackling grade was very notable, including an outstanding 3 percent missed-tackle rate that was third among the qualifying NFL edge rushers. Situationally, we see run defense was his best grade by far, aligning with the original goal for the article today.
Let’s examine his run defense further, along with current Steelers out of curiosity, starting with 2021 run snaps (minimum of 150) and average depth of tackle:
Roche had less opportunities than many of his peers, logging 160 run snaps (T-75th) out of 84 qualifying players, which was 39.9 percent of his total defensive snaps. He was also below the mean with a 2.9 average depth of tackle that tied for 59th. These data points shed important light to the earlier info, allowing more yardage and less quantity, which is important context as we continue.
Now let’s look at types of tackles, solo versus assisted tackles against the run:
Despite having fewer snap opportunities than the majority of his peers, Roche was at the mean in solo run tackles with 20 (T-35th), a quality aspect of his 2021 run defense indeed. His six assisted run tackles were a bit below average though, tying for 46th. That’s still a good mark, in my opinion, with the lack of opportunity comparatively (for example Markus Golden).
Next, I wanted to see how the players fared in a “hit or miss”-type view with stop percentage, which uses the successful play rates formula (less than 40 percent on first down, 50 percent or less on second down, and third- or fourth-down plays kept from a first down or touchdown) and missed tackle percentage:
This is where we see the main value that Roche provided. The aforementioned and impressive 3 percent missed-tackle rate in all situations was even better in run defense, one of only four qualifying edge rushers to not miss a tackle against the run in 2021. He was also well above average in stop rate (a feat achieved by each highlighted player), which came in at 8.3 percent and tied for 12th, respectively. While his average depth of tackle was below average in the first view, seeing this number with important situational context deserves props.
To close, let’s look at a more total view of how the players fared in the run game with PFF run defense grades along with points above average per play (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, and accounts for defenders in the box, blown blocks forced, broken tackles, and turnovers) from Sports Info Solutions (SIS):
Coming off the strong value we saw Roche provided from the previous chart, he lands above the mean in both data points in this view as well. His previously mentioned 68.4 run defense grade tied for 24th, while his points above average tied for 27th. Both data sources were fairly even on their positive opinion of Roche as a run defender in 2021, as highlighted by the trendline.
While this was two seasons ago, and he would of course need to do enough to stick with the team first and foremost, we can see that Roche provided value in the 2021 season as a run defender after barely playing last year. It will be very interesting to see how he performs as camp winds down, and if he can hang around in his second stint with Pittsburgh in 2023.
As noted at the beginning of the article, the goal today was not to make any major proclamations, and I hope you enjoyed learning more about Roche. One thing’s for sure, I can’t wait to see how things pan out.
Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
