As we do throughout each season, we’re compiling the data of our weekly Pittsburgh Steelers defensive charting to get a sense of the personnel and personal play. We’ll check in every quarter of the season to see where Pittsburgh stands and stacks up with nuggets of info touching every point of the defense.
These numbers are out of 271 no-penalty plays through four games.
– Here’s what the snap counts will look like if the Steelers’ current snap average carries over for the rest of the season.
2025: 1,152 snaps (67.8 per game)*
2024:Â 1,041 snaps (61.2 per game)
2023:Â 1,136 snaps (66.8 per game)
2022:Â 1,012 snaps (59.5 per game)
2021:Â 1,108 snaps (65.2 per game)
2020:Â 992 snaps (62 per game)
2019:Â 1,067 snaps (66.7 per game)
2018:Â 1,021 snaps (63.8 per game)
2017:Â 979 snaps (61.2 per game)
2016:Â 1,040 snaps (65.0 per game)
2015:Â 1,102 snaps (68.9 per game)
*Projection
Pittsburgh’s on pace to log more snaps than the defense has in any season of the past decade. That doesn’t include any possible playoff snaps, either. Hopefully, this number comes down. Being on the field for close to 70 snaps per game is glaring.
– Below is a breakdown of Pittsburgh’s personnel using general groupings. We’ll get more specific below.
Nickel: 157 snaps (57.9 percent)
3-4: 94 snaps (34.7 percent)
4-4: 8 snaps (3.0 percent)
3-5: 5 snaps (1.8 percent)
3-3-5: 5 snaps (1.8 percent)
1-1-5: 2 snaps (0.7 percent)
Nickel and base were neck-and-neck through the first three games, but shifted towards nickel against Minnesota. Game circumstances have an impact, and Pittsburgh has evenly matched offensive personnel.
– Here’s the specific breakdown of personnel.
Nickel: 152 snaps
3-4: 93 snaps
4-4: 8 snaps
Big Nickel: 5 snaps
3-5: 5 snaps
3-3-5: 3 snaps
1-5-5: 2 snaps
3-3-5 Over: 2 snaps
3-4 Over: 1 snap
Not much new to glean here. The “big nickel” is a three-safety package mainly used when Pittsburgh ran out of cornerbacks. The “over” fronts happen when the d-line shifts to the strength of the formation.
– The sub/base rates this season.
Sub: 164 (60.5 percent)
Base: 107 (39.5 percent)
Last year, Pittsburgh was in sub-package 73.3-percent of the time. So this is a significant reduction, much closer to 2023 (59.4 percent). But we’ll see what the numbers look like with more games.
– Pittsburgh has blitzed 30.9-percent of the time. That’s up from 29.0-percent a year ago, though it’s still relatively low compared to other years.
– The Steelers’ five-man rush rate is 34.9-percent. That is significantly up from last season’s 26.5-percent. Mainly due to the increase in base defense usage. If that figure holds, it’ll be the team’s second-highest since 2015. Only 2020’s 38.9-percent is higher.
Defensive Line
Pressures
Cam Heyward: 6
Keeanu Benton: 5
Derrick Harmon: 4
Yahya Black: 2
Daniel Ekuale: 2
Snaps per pressure. The lower the number, the better.
Derrick Harmon: 13
Daniel Ekuale: 15
Cam Heyward: 19.3
Keeanu Benton: 21
Yahya Black: 28
– Nice numbers from the rookie Harmon on limited snaps. Benton’s numbers were hurting until the Vikings game, when he picked up four pressures.
– YPC allowed when on the field. These are broad numbers that don’t take into full account individual play. But they’re worth checking out.
Cam Heyward: 3.2
Derrick Harmon: 3.4
Keeanu Benton: 3.5
Daniel Ekuale: 4.8
Yahya Black: 4.9
Heyward has strong numbers, while Benton’s are better than you might expect. Heyward’s numbers are worth digging into a little more. The Steelers’ YPC when he’s on the field versus when he’s off it.
Heyward On Field: 3.2 YPC
Heyward Off Field: 5.6 YPC
Just one data point. But a big difference.
Linebackers
Pressures
Nick Herbig: 14
T.J. Watt: 10
Patrick Queen: 5
Payton Wilson: 5
Alex Highsmith: 4
Jack Sawyer: 2
– Good numbers across the board. Herbig with 14 pressures despite missing Week 1. Queen and Wilson with strong production as off-ball players.
Snaps per pressure. The lower the pressure, the better.
Patrick Queen: 4.4
Payton Wilson: 5
Alex Highsmith: 7
Nick Herbig: 7.9
T.J. Watt: 13.1
Jack Sawyer: 14.5
– Queen and Wilson have been highly efficient in getting to the quarterback. Highsmith has missed lots of time, but has an even better pressure rate than Herbig. Watt’s 13.1 looks poor by comparison but is identical to 2024, though his 2023 number was 8.1. We’ll see if that number comes up.
– Drop/coverage percentage for the Steelers’ outside linebackers.
Nick Herbig: 6.0 percent
Jack Sawyer: 6.5 percent
Alex Highsmith: 6.7 percent
T.J. Watt: 7.7 percent
Numbers are roughly in line with expectations. Watt dropped just 4.8-percent last season, so his figure has slightly increased.
– Targets
T.J. Watt: 0/1 0 yards
Nick Herbig: 1/1 5 yards
Cole Holcomb: 4/4 31 yards
Payton Wilson: 5/6 38 yards 1 TD
Patrick Queen: 7/8 64 yards 1 TD
– QB rating against:
T.J. Watt: 39.6
Nick Herbig: 87.5
Cole Holcomb: 98.9
Payton Wilson: 132.6
Patrick Queen: 139.6
– On the stat sheet, Herbig has an interception. However, my charting gives credit to those who batted the pass initially, meaning Cam Heyward received credit for the pick in our data. Sample sizes are still small, but Wilson and Queen have not made plays in coverage.
Secondary
– Targets against:
Jabrill Peppers: 1/1 3 yards
Joey Porter Jr.: 1/1 11 yards
James Pierre: 2/4 9 yards
DeShon Elliott: 1/4 8 yards
Juan Thornhill: 4/5 56 yards
Brandin Echols: 6/6 50 yards
Chuck Clark: 6/7 68 yards
Jalen Ramsey: 7/12 120 yards 2 TDs 1 INT
Darius Slay: 10/16 111 yards 1 TD
– QB rating against:
DeShon Elliott: 39.6
James Pierre: 56.3
Jabrill Peppers: 79.2
Jalen Ramsey: 97.2
Brandin Echols: 101.4
Darius Slay: 103.9
Chuck Clark: 107.1
Joey Porter Jr.: 112.5
Juan Thornhill: 113.3
– Like Herbig, I gave DL Derrick Harmon credit on DeShon Elliott’s interception against Minnesota. Even so, Elliott has done well in coverage. Numbers don’t look great for starters, but more data is needed.
– Jalen Ramsey and DeShon Elliott have blitzed 7 times apiece. A lot for Elliott considering the time he’s missed. Chuck Clark has blitzed three times.
