The Pittsburgh Steelers kept their busy offseason going, recently adding yet another piece to their revamped linebacker room with the signing of Kwon Alexander. I will continue the series by looking at data of his 2022 season as a pass rusher, including Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, and 2022 Steelers as well for comparative context, following up my 2022 coverage and LINK! run defense studies on him. Today I will use data from Pro Football Focus (PFF), taking a similar approach to the article I did earlier this offseason, with today’s focus primarily being on Alexander.
Let’s get right to it, starting with 2022 pass snaps and pass rush wins versus blocking from PFF to get a gauge of the position comparatively:
Immediately we see each focus player at the bottom left of the chart, with below-average pass snaps at the position, and at or below-average pass rush wins as well. Alexander lands well below average in both, starting with 272 pass snaps, which was the least of the highlighted players and fifth least of the 68 qualifying NFL linebackers (64th), despite appearing in all 17 games last season. He had two pass rush wins in these fewer opportunities, tying for 48th leaguewide, but was closer to the trendline than former Steeler Devin Bush. for example, with the same number of pass rush wins on more opportunity (356 pass snaps). Elandon Roberts was the only player above the trendline, providing an at-the-mean five pass rush wins that was above average given his pass snaps (344), with the other linebackers in our sights leaving us wanting more in terms of quantity as pass rushers.
Now let’s look at hurries and total pressures to see how the players fared effecting the quarterback:
In a second total numbers view, we see the majority of the highlighted linebackers land on the bottom left again, as expected. Alexander was below average in both, with five total pressures (T-50th) and three hurries (T-55th). Considering his even lower rank in opportunity (64th), we shouldn’t expect the total numbers to skyrocket up the chart. For example, Roberts was one of only eight qualifiers with above the mean pass rush wins on below average opportunity from the first chart and had a slightly above average 11 total pressures in this visual, emphasizing him as the strongest pass rusher of the focused group in 2022. Hopefully he can continue to provide this for the Black and Gold.
Next, I’d like to provide an interesting formula from PFF called Pass Rush Productivity (PRP). This is defined as the amount of pressure accumulated per pass rush snap, also giving weight towards sacks along with pass snaps. Here’s a view with overall PRP along with true pass set PRP (excludes play action, screens, short drop backs, and time to throw numbers under two seconds) eliminating most plays in which the pass rusher was less likely to produce:
When taking rates into account as opposed to total numbers, we see Alexander fared much better. He was above average in PRP, at a solid 15.8 number that tied for 13th among qualifiers. That highlights my earlier point of quality on less quantity. This included two quarterback hits and half a sack. I can’t wait to see if Alexander is able to provide some juice in this regard for Pittsburgh considering he landed above every 2022 Steelers linebacker in PRP. His 16.7 true pass set PRP landed right at the NFL mean and tied for 29th, a respectable mark as well. Roberts fared exceptionally in PRP (second in the NFL) along with an above average mark in true pass sets, and the 2022 data has me optimistic that the pass rush from the linebacker position could improve this year, likely led by Roberts and Alexander if so.
Here are total pass rush and true pass set win percentages:
Here we see Roberts topping another chart and the only player above average in both, highlighted by another second rank in pass rush win rate, encouragingly. Alexander’s marks are very telling, with none of his pass-rush wins coming in true pass sets. This adds important context to his overall pass rush production, all coming in more expected situations, with an above league average 10.5 percent pass rush win rate that ranked 28th at the position. Seeing Roberts and Alexander above the 2022 Pittsburgh linebackers in pass rush win rate is encouraging once again. We’ve also gained context with Cole Holcomb’s lack of pass rush production in a shortened 2022 season, but that’s okay in my opinion, with it clearly being in Roberts and Alexanders wheelhouse.
To close, here are PFF grades for the position group in the same situations (overall/true pass sets):
Piggybacking off the last point, we see Roberts first in the entire NFL in PFF pass rush grade, and Alexander second of the players in our sights with a 73.6 grade that ranked 13th leaguewide. If they can have a similar 2023 season in their opportunities, look out, especially considering the strong defensive line in front of them. True pass sets are an area that can stand to improve though, with the pair having below average grades that landed below Bush and former Steeler Myles Jack. Alexander had a 60.9 true pass set grade, ranking much lower at 53rd than his overall pass rush grade, but it is important to recall true pass sets are when players are less likely to produce.
So, Alexander’s 2022 season as a pass rusher was a quality over quantity campaign. He fared best in pass rush grade (13th), PRP (T-13th), pass rush win rate (28th), and tied for 29th in true pass set PRP, with the latter right at league average at the position. Alexander was below average in pass snaps (64th). That was fifth least despite playing in all 17 games last season, emphasizing the rotational role he played, which may continue in Pittsburgh. His other below-average marks were pass-rush wins (T-48th), total pressures (T-50th), hurries (T-55th), true pass set grade (53rd), and tied for last in true pass set win rate (0 percent), with the latter being an extremely telling data point to his production coming in more expected situations.
The findings leave me feeling optimistic on what the pass rush production could be from Pittsburgh’s position room in 2023, particularly Roberts and Alexander. Here’s to hoping they can do just that in the Black and Gold. One thing’s for sure, I can’t wait to see how it all shakes 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.
