The defense was on the field for nearly two-thirds of the game last Sunday as the Philadelphia Eagles dominated time of possession on their way to a 27-13 blowout win. All three of the Steelers’ drafted rookies who played had some of their worst grades of the season. Even with the defense on the field a lot, Payton Wilson and undrafted free agent Beanie Bishop Jr. lost some of their share of the total snaps.
Today we will look at all four rookie performances against the Eagles, including their snap counts, Pro Football Focus grades, tape analysis and more.
Week 15 – At Philadelphia Eagles
C Zach Frazier
Snaps: 43 on offense (100 percent), 0 on special teams
PFF Grades: 55.4 overall, 67.9 pass block, 51.2 run block
Frazier had the worst run-blocking grade of his young career against the Eagles. It’s understandable against that defensive line as he finally met his match against Jalen Carter on some of the Steelers’ run plays. Frazier normally does a great job sustaining blocks with his superior latch strength, but he struggled to hold onto blocks for long against the Eagles’ physical defensive linemen.
Frazier hasn’t played up to his pre-injury level in general since returning, though some of that is because of the quality of opponents he’s gone against.
On the play below, Frazier has a promising start to the rep with good hand placement and leverage, but Moro Ojomo uses his wide base and length to use Frazier’s momentum against him and shed the block to make the tackle.
ILB Payton Wilson
Snaps: 30 on defense (38 percent), 16 on special teams
PFF Grades: 49.3 overall, 62.4 run defense, 49.2 coverage, 29.7 tackling, 55.2 pass rush
Despite the defense spending 77 snaps on the field overall, Wilson’s snap total shrunk a little from previous weeks, which means his percentage of the team’s defensive snaps took a big hit.
He still managed to get in on five tackles but snapped his streak of consecutive weeks with very strong PFF grades. Wilson had three missed tackles, a theme for the Steelers’ normally stout defense.
Despite the tackling issues, I wanted to highlight my favorite play of his in this game. He cut through the line of scrimmage, pursued Saquon Barkley from behind, and managed to wrangle him down. This is the same running back who took Cam Heyward for a ride at one point in this game, so kudos to Wilson for securing the tackle here.
OG Mason McCormick
Snaps: 43 on offense (100 percent), 3 on special teams
PFF Grades: 55.8 overall, 73.7 pass block, 49.4 run block
McCormick had a solid day as a pass blocker with zero pressures allowed. But, like Frazier, he struggled to create push and sustain blocks in the run game. He couldn’t keep up with the physicality and technique of the Eagles’ defensive linemen. Jalen Carter dominated him on the below rep by winning the leverage battle. He used McCormick’s outside shoulder as a fulcrum and went arm over to limit Najee Harris to a minimal gain.
CB Beanie Bishop Jr.
Snaps: 24 on defense (30 percent), 10 on special teams
PFF Grades: 73.3 overall, 61.8 run defense, 73.6 coverage, 73.9 tackling, 60.0 pass rush
Bishop didn’t play a ton relative to how much the defense was on the field, but he actually had a decent game overall.
He’s done this a couple times this season where he blows up screen plays by splitting the blocks and locking in on the screen receiver. He did it again in this game with a beautiful play against DeVonta Smith. Bishop currently has enough of the fan vote to be a Pro Bowler in the AFC by the way.
