Today I wanted to circle back to the cornerback position, where Pittsburgh has several new faces vying for spots on the 2024 roster in training camp. I have done several deep dives this offseason on the group, including this one on current/former Steelers in 2022.
Anthony Averett didn’t qualify for that study, with fewer coverage snaps than those players. This study will look at corners with a minimum of 15 targets in 2022, and I will focus on current Steelers only, using data from Sports Info Solutions (SIS).
Let’s dive in. Here’s 2022 coverage snaps and targets (min. of 15) for quantity context:
Right away, we get a sense of the lack of opportunities for Averett among his peers, and the turnover Pittsburgh has had at the position the last two seasons. Averett had just 164 coverage snaps, ranking 124th out of the 137 qualifying cornerbacks, along with 18 targets (128th).
He appeared in seven games, being placed on injured reserve twice in the 2022 season, first with a broken thumb. Averett had zero defensive snaps last season, so recent opportunities have been sparse following a 2021 season with ample playing time as a Raven (807 defensive snaps). Important context on 2022 and his recent history as we continue to learn.
NOTE: At the end of the article, there is a table that includes full rankings of the current Steelers for further comparison.
Here are 2022 snap alignments for the players in our sights, from Pro Football Focus (PFF):
;
The majority of qualifying corners in this study were primarily outside corners, including Averett, with the exception being Josiah Scott. This is true for each season of Averett’s career, which began in 2018, and the aforementioned 2021 season featuring his most playing time by far.
This gives us an idea of what the likely avenue and role would be if things play out well for him this summer. There are more opportunities available at the slot corner position, but depth on the outside is also open for the taking as well.
Other important context is man versus zone, and here are those rates:
The first thing that’s important to note are schemes of the different teams the corners played for. Cameron Sutton was the only Steeler in 2022, playing man scheme substantially more than the three new Steelers, including Averett.
He had a whopping 63.3-percent in zone coverage, which heavily impacts the quality components coming up next, and is very important to factor into the results. For comparison, no Pittsburgh cornerback eclipsed 60-percent last season, while the majority of the position room had man coverage rates above 30-percent.
Now let’s begin to examine the quality of play with completion percentage and deserved catch rate, which is the number of completions and drops divided by the number of catchable targets and passes defensed:
Averett lands on the bottom left of this visual, allowing a 72.2 completion rate that ranked 130th, and an 87.5 deserved catch percentage that tied for 123rd. Landing low among the 137 qualifiers does make some sense after the prior data, unveiling his high zone coverage rate that makes for easier completion opportunities for opposing receivers, and this point also applying to Donte Jackson as well.
Next, let’s look at the yardage of the targets with yards per attempt and yards per game:
The better mark for Averett here was 26.3 yards per game allowed, ranking 72nd among his peers, and landing close to the mean. This was also true for Jackson and Scott, with the latter having the worst yards per attempt allowed. Averett was sandwiched between them with 10.2 yards per attempt allowed, well below average at 125th. Not ideal to say the least.
Another stat used often to evaluate defenders in coverage is QBR Against (factors in completions, yards, touchdowns, and interceptions), so let’s see how they fare along with points saved per play (PSPP – The total EPA responsibility while in coverage using the Total Points system that distributes credit among all players on the field for a given play, with positive numbers being good.
Totals are scaled up to map to the average points scored or allowed on a team level, with the player’s snap count determining how much to adjust. For pass defenders, this includes accounting for pass rush, broken tackles, dropped interceptions, turnovers, and turnover returns.):
More bad news for Averett unfortunately, landing well below the mean in both datapoints. His 123.4 QBR Against ranked 131st (seventh-worst), along with a points saved per play ranking that was third-worst in 2022 (135th).
We’re seeing why Averett’s services were available, with poor results in coverage on his most recent resume, and vast improvements needing to be displayed to instill confidence in hopes of earning opportunities in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh’s scheme, and hopefully being healthier could contribute to a positive trend (fingers crossed) if playing time is earned.
To close, let’s look at SIS’s Boom and Bust percentages to see the rates of big plays allowed or made in coverage.
- Boom % = The percentage of dropbacks that resulted in an EPA of 1 or more (a very successful play for the offense)
- Bust % = The percentage of dropbacks that resulted in an EPA of -1 of less (a very unsuccessful play for the offense)
Here we get more context on the extreme end of the most positive and negative plays. Averett thoroughly struggled in allowing big plays to opposing receivers, with a 44.4 boom rate allowed, which was fifth-worst (133rd). This included a touchdown, and 184 yards allowed, which was third-most of corners with less than 20 targets.
Some of that has to do with his high zone usage, allowing 18.7 yards per catch in that scheme (third-most), compared to 13.0 in man coverage that was around average. Considering Pittsburgh utilizes man schemes more than what he was asked to do with the Raiders, that leaves room for optimism that things could look better for Averett if he sees the field with the Black and Gold.
Averett’s 16.7 bust rate was much better, tying for 76th. This was one of his better marks of the study though, emphasizing overall struggles compared to his peers in coverage, and just below the mean (where all current Steelers landed).
In terms of the coverage data, it seems that Averett will need to show a lot in training camp to give the Steelers confidence that he is a viable depth piece for 2024. I can’t wait to see how the rest of training camp pans out for the 2024 cornerback room with several new faces.
Here’s a wrap up rankings table of the data:
Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
