2023 Pass Rush Study: Steelers Edge Rushers

Today, I wanted to start a new series on studying NFL position groups and facets of the game. First up are edge rushers, looking at pass rush data from Sports Info Solutions (SIS) last season. The stats in this study are from the 2023 season, focusing on the Pittsburgh Steelers. The goal is to see how they stacked up against their peers across the NFL.

First, let’s look at pass snaps along with their total snaps to get a gauge of the players’ opportunities, and how often they were able to stay on the field for their squads last season:

Star Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt led the position room in opportunities with 930 total regular season snaps. That ranked eighth out of 135 qualifiers (min. 175 total regular season snaps) across the league in 2023. In passing situations, Watt had 569 snaps, which landed seventh.

“Elite Robin” Alex Highsmith was close behind in opportunities, ranking one spot behind Watt with 909 total snaps, and 549 pass snaps landed at 12th. The top of the depth chart in Watt and Highsmith were encouragingly durable and available in 2023.

Then, we see the Steelers’ rotational edge rushers on the bottom left of the visual. Veteran Markus Golden, currently a free agent, had 230 total snaps and 104 pass snaps. Those marks landed 121st and tied for 126th.

In his rookie season, Nick Herbig had 191 total snaps and 87 pass snaps, 127th and 132nd in 2023. The backup edge rushers got “spot work” behind the starters and faired well, as you’ll see through the study, compared to depth in recent seasons being lackluster overall.

Next, let’s look at the percentages that the players rushed the passer (pass plays only) and Sports Info Solutions positive play %: the rate of pass plays with the player on the field resulted in a positive EPA (lower percentages are best):

This visual furthers the quality I was discussing from backup Steelers edge rushers. The entire position room was above-average in positive percentage. On the flip side, we see that Pittsburgh asked the group to do more than rush the passer, and all were below the NFL mean in rush rate.

Herbig’s impressive production in minimal opportunities contributes to a stellar 27.0 positive percentage, tops for Pittsburgh and impressively tying for second-best in the league. He had a 75.9 rush rate that ranked 128th, meaning he rushed the passer eighth-least among qualifiers and for Pittsburgh.

After a drop-off, Golden was second on the team with a 36.0 positive rate (T-31st), along with an 82.7 rush percentage that landed 114th. Those numbers were encouragingly close to Highsmith’s: 83.2 rush rate (113th), 37.0 positive percentage (T-39th). Nice specific context to the stronger depth from Herbig and Golden last season.

Watt is one of the most elite pass rushers in the game and expectedly led Pittsburgh’s room in rush rate. That 89.1 number tied for a lower 92nd NFL ranking than I expected, though, along with his 38.0 positive percentage (T-52nd).

Here are essential numbers for the topic, pressure, and sack percentages:

Overall, encouraging results for the Steelers’ edge rusher position room. Golden and Watt were well above average in both, while Herbig joined Golden with rather impressive sack rates, and Highsmith comfortably above the mean in pressure percentage.

More specifically, Golden and Herbig solely tied for the NFL’s best 4.8 sack rate among qualifiers, hammering the point of the great depth they provided for the black and gold in 2023. Golden paired that with a 15.7 pressure percentage (22nd), while Herbig’s 9.7 mark tied for 94th. Year two will hopefully bring more in that regard while continuing to cash in on sacks.

Watt led the Steelers position group with a 17.7 pressure rate that ranked eighth, along with a 4.0 sack rate that came in fifth. In terms of sack rates, Pittsburgh impressively had three players in the top five in 2023.

Highsmith’s stronger number was a 14.8 pressure percentage that ranked 24th, but his 1.6 sack rate landed below the mean (T-79th). Here’s to hoping he can get home more often in 2024.

Here are raw sack and pressure totals for further context:

Watt: 19 sacks, 85 pressures
Highsmith: seven sacks, 64 pressures
Golden: four sacks, 13 pressures
Herbig: three sacks, six pressures

Watt, wow. He led the league in sacks and tied for fourth in pressures. The players ranked higher in pressures were Raiders Maxx Crosby (100), Lions Aidan Hutchinson (99), and Cowboys Micah Parsons (87). The two that tied Watt with 85 pressures were San Francisco’s Nick Bosa and Jacksonville’s Josh Allen.

Considering they had similar opportunities, hopefully, Highsmith will trend positively for a stronger 2024. Also, Golden and Herbig’s totals from a box score perspective look underwhelming, but the data used today shows they provided some of the best quality over quantity in the league last year.

Here is a more total view of the players as pass rushers:

• Points Saved Per Rush – The total of a player’s EPA responsibility on pass plays 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 rushers, this includes accounting for sacks, blown blocks forced, turnovers, turnover returns, and other disruptions at the line of scrimmage. Values are modulated using a quality-of-competition multiplier based on each opponent’s previous year of performance).
• Points Above Average Per Play – using the same Total Points system and putting a number to their value above an average level player.

In this more total view, we see that the Pittsburgh Steelers edge rushers were impressively all above-average in SIS points metrics. Atop those encouraging reasons, Watt ranked first in both data points in the NFL, with sole bragging rights as the league’s best pass rusher in these terms.

Herbig silenced many doubters his rookie season, landing close behind at second in points saved per rush, and tying for the same rank in points above average per play with Cleveland’s Myles Garrett. Wow.

Golden was third on the team in these data points, tying for sixth league-wide in points saved per rush and tied for fifth in points above average per play. So Watt, Herbig, and Golden were all in the top ten. Very impressive.

On the other hand, Highsmith was slightly above the mean in each, tying for 64th in both metrics. There is room for improvement, for sure, but he has shown to be more than capable in his career.

Overall, the findings are encouraging. Hopefully, the Steelers’ edge-rusher room that largely stayed intact can provide a similar impact in 2024, and I am very open to the possibility of Golden (currently a free agent) circling back.

To close, here is a table of the league-wide rankings: