Today, I continue examining the overhauled cornerback position for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The focus of this article will be CB Grayland Arnold, looking at various run defense stats along with other current Steelers for comparison.
This will pair nicely with several of my other offseason studies, like this 2023 slot coverage study of current Pittsburgh DBs, which included Arnold. The article will include NFL corners with a minimum of 50 run snaps, using data from Pro Football Focus (PFF) and Sports Info Solutions (SIS).
Let’s start with run snaps and average depth of tackle for quantity of plays and yardage comparatively:
Very telling visual here with Arnold landing below the mean in both data points, particularly the fewest run snaps (51) among the 147 qualifying cornerbacks. That is extremely important quantity context as we gauge his quality of play, which included a 7.7 average depth of tackle (ADOT) that ranked 111th. So far, not ideal for Arnold last season.
Snap counts for Donte Jackson and Cameron Sutton against the run were up there among their peers, each in the top 20. Joey Porter Jr.’s opportunities ramped up throughout his rookie season, landing him lower in the ranks, and expect him to be much higher in 2024. Sutton and Jackson were above average in ADOT while Porter and Arnold were below the line.
Here are the numbers and ranks for current Steelers:
Jackson: 420 run snaps (eighth), 5.6 ADOT (T-68th)
Sutton: 368 run snaps (T-18th), 4.7 ADOT (T-48th)
Porter: 271 run snaps (55th), 7.9 ADOT (T-112th)
Arnold: 51 run snaps (147th), 7.7 ADOT (111th)
Let’s add context with the cornerbacks’ alignment rates:
Arnold’s most common alignment by far was in the slot, where he is vying for a roster spot and/or playing time with Pittsburgh. The other currents Steelers primarily played on the outside in 2023, including Sutton, whose role would likely shift to more slot as he did in his prior stint with Pittsburgh. Of course, his eight-game suspension puts a hold on this possibility, creating the questions and studies on the best candidate, at least for the first half of 2024.
Now let’s look at types of run tackles, solo versus assisted:
As expected, with more snaps came more tackles. Jackson and Sutton were above-average among their peers, with Porter coming in a bit below the mean. Then we see Arnold, who in particular lacked in solo tackles. A bit concerning but having the least run snaps among qualifiers emphasizes that things could have been worse.
Here are the data and ranks:
Jackson: 15 solo (T-17th), 5 assists (T-29th).
Sutton: 10 solo (T-51st), 4 assists (T-42nd).
Porter: 8 solo (T-82nd), 3 assists (T-55th).
Arnold: 3 solo (T-126th), 3 assists (T-55th).
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:
The only focused player to land above the mean in both rates was Arnold. His 4.0 stop rate tied for 18th out of the 147 qualifiers. Yes, the quality far outweighed his quantity of opportunities in run defense, but a positive impact based on game circumstances is great to see.
Arnold also had a 14.3 missed tackle rate, best among current Steelers, and tying for an above-average 66th. That points to a point of emphasis for current Steelers needing to shore up and limit missed tackles in the run game.
Here are the particulars:
Arnold: 14.3 missed tackle rate (T-66th), 4.0 stop rate (T-18th).
Porter: 15.4 missed tackle rate (T-73rd), 0.8 stop rate (T-120th).
Sutton: 17.6 missed tackle rate (T-85th), 1.7 stop rate (T-79th).
Jackson: 28.6 missed tackle rate (125th), 2.2 stop rate (T-52nd).
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 players 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):
Polar opposite results for Arnold. PFF viewed his 2023 run defense poorly, with a 40.0 grade that ranked 135th (13th-worst). SIS, on the other hand, charted him for a 0.026 points above-average stat, ranking 10th-best. Considering all the factors SIS accounts for, that is rather encouraging, including EPA’s relation to play-by-play game impact.
Sutton landed above the mean in both. Porter’s stronger mark came from PFF while Jackson’s was in points above average. Arnold, Sutton, and Jackson were all above average in SIS’s eyes, with Sutton and Porter being those men for PFF.
Let’s look at the numbers and ranks:
Sutton: 68.0 PFF (T-52nd), 0.009 SIS (T-36th).
Porter: 63.8 PFF (70th), -0.006 SIS (T-108th).
Jackson: 52.3 PFF (113th), 0.005 SIS (T-58th).
Arnold: 40.0 PFF (135th), 0.026 SIS (tenth).
To close, here’s a wrap-up table and conclusion:
Jackson’s best marks were in quantity, playing a ton in run defense with high tackle totals. Quality waned though, with missed tackles being the primary concern.
Sutton had the steadiest marks, which encouragingly came on a high number of opportunities, but missed tackle and stop rates being his lower marks point to a hopeful positive trend, assuming things go as planned following his eight-game suspension.
We can see that Porter really needs to show improvement in run defense in his second season, outside the top 50 across the entire study, with average depth of tackle and stop rate highest on my radar.
Arnold had minimal opportunities in 2023 with the fewest run snaps among the 147 qualifiers. A concern that jumps out to me is ADOT. He landed very low among his peers despite playing the majority of his time in the slot and closer to the line of scrimmage.
He did provide some quality though, particularly with a top 20 stop rate, along with having the best missed tackle rate among current Steelers. If he earns playing time, the clear question in my eyes is how would he fare on more snaps? Only time will tell, and I can’t wait to see how it all pans out for Pittsburgh’s cornerbacks in run defense in 2024.
