Eckert’s Examinations: Cameron Sutton 2023 Pass Rush Study

Circling back to the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason was CB Cameron Sutton, strengthening the position room from an on-field standpoint. His services were available due to a domestic violence felony reduced to a misdemeanor. That, of course, muddies what is in store for Sutton’s future.

Today, I will continue the series by looking at data on Sutton last season as a pass rusher, including 2023 Steelers as well for comparative context, following up my 2023 coverage stat study on him. Today I will use data from Pro Football Focus (PFF), including cornerbacks with a minimum of five pass rush snaps (57 qualifiers).

Let’s get right to it, starting with 2023 pass rush snaps and pass rush wins versus blocking:

This is a very notable visual, in my opinion, for several reasons. First, we see just two qualifiers from Pittsburgh last season, with CB Chandon Sullivan substantially leading the way in pass rush opportunities. He had 35 pass rush snaps, ranking eighth among NFL corners in 2023, and paired that with three pass rush wins. That doesn’t sound like much, but it tied for fifth at the position.

Then, we see Patrick Peterson and Sutton on the bottom left, emphasizing far fewer opportunities as pass rushers. Peterson had six pass rush snaps (T-42nd) and one pass rush win (T-18th), while Cameron Sutton had no pass rush wins on the same number of pass rush opportunities.

A concern and reason to dive into the study are the vacated snaps from Sullivan (in particular) and Peterson, who are both currently in the free agency pool. With them left several snaps they provided at slot CB, where many project Sutton to contribute most if everything pans out.

Detroit used Sutton much more out wide than this 2024 projection but still rushed the passer more than several outside corners. For example, Joey Porter Jr. and former Steeler Levi Wallace had zero pass rush snaps.

This does point to the versatility Cameron Sutton brings and perhaps taking on a greater pass-rushing role that Pittsburgh relies on heavily from their slot corners. Here is some recent data that gives context to that notion:

PITTSBURGH’S TOP PASS RUSHING CBS BY SEASON (NFL RANKS)

2023: Chandon Sullivan – 35 pass rush snaps (eighth)
2022: Arthur Maulet – 30 pass rush snaps (T-fourth)
2021: Arthur Maulet – 36 pass rush snaps (sixth)
2020: Mike Hilton – 62 pass rush snaps (first)
2019: Mike Hilton – 61 pass rush snaps (first)
2018: Mike Hilton – 60 pass rush snaps (second)
2017: Mike Hilton – 79 pass rush snaps (first)
2016: William Gay – 36 pass rush snaps (first)
2015: William Gay – 32 pass rush snaps (fourth)

For quite some time (nine seasons), the Pittsburgh Steelers have blitzed a CB at a top-eight frequency, with seven of them landing in the top five. The other two have come the last three years, trying to rekindle the gem they had in Hilton for that four-year stretch, who substantially lead the list each of those seasons. He has continued that with the Cincinnati Bengals, landing in the top four each of the last three years with them.

Looking back to Cameron Sutton’s 2022 season with Pittsburgh, he had just four pass rush snaps despite playing a lot more in the slot than last year. The most pass rush snaps Sutton has had in a season was 19, but that came way back in 2018 with the Steelers.

All of this really emphasizes Pittsburgh’s big question mark for this role currently and how important it has been for nearly a decade.

Now, let’s focus back on 2023. Here at hurries and total pressures to see how the players fared impacting the quarterback:

With more volume, Sullivan lands above average in both and leads focused players as expected. He provided five hurries (T-fifth) but ranked a bit lower with five pressures (T-13th).

The other corners in our sights landed on the bottom left with several others at the position. Peterson had two pressures (T-31st), two hurries (T-19th), while Sutton had goose eggs in both.

Next, I’d like to provide an interesting formula from PFF called Pass Rush Productivity (PRP), defined as the amount of pressure accumulated per pass rush snap, also giving weight towards sacks along with pass snaps. Here’s a view with overall PRP along with true pass set PRP (excludes play action, screens, short dropbacks, and time to throw numbers under two seconds) eliminating most plays in which the pass rusher was less likely to produce:

Here, we see Sullivan joining Sutton with below-average marks in each data point. Cameron Sutton, of course, landed at zero once again with no pressures or hurries. Sullivan dropped to a 7.4 PRP that ranked 42nd and a 6.3 true pass set PRP that landed slightly better at 40th. Peterson had the only above-the-mean number in our sights, a 16.7 PRP that tied for 16th across the league. But, a below average 12.5 true pass set PRP (T-29th).

Discouragingly, all three focused players were below the mean on true pass sets, situations they were more likely to produce on. Perhaps most notable, none of the three players were able to get home for a sack, either.

Here are total pass rush and true pass set win percentages:

In the more commonly referenced pass rush win rates, both former Steelers landed above average. Peterson had the best marks with a 16.7 pass rush win rate (T-ninth) and a 25.0 true pass set win rate (T-fifth).

Sullivan was closer to average, particularly with a 7.4 pass rush win percent (42nd), but landed stronger in the ranks in true pass set win rate (12.5, 14th). So, he was more productive when it was expected, which is important context.

Yep, Sutton is at zero in each again.

To close, here are PFF grades for the position group in the same situations (overall/true pass sets):

As we layered more into the equation, it became clear that Peterson was most productive on a snap-to-snap basis. Granted, it was on much lower pass rush snaps (six) than Sullivan (35), which is very important to recall. Peterson was able to provide more than Sutton last year, as the study indicated, including these grades:

Peterson: 75.2 pass-rush grade (13th), 80.8 true pass set pass-rush grade (ninth)
Sullivan: 57.9 pass-rush grade (36th), 57.7 true pass set pass-rush grade (31st)
Sutton: 50.0 pass-rush grade (45th), 60.0 true pass set pass-rush grade (T-27th)

All three saw a bump in true pass set grades, including Sutton passing Sullivan in that stat, as opposed to their pass rush grades in all situations.

Of course, stats alone never tell the full story, but hopefully, my goal of the article is to paint the vacancy of a blitzing slot corner as the roster sits today. Can Cameron Sutton be that guy? There’s not a ton of it on his resume, but he is a very smart and versatile player. Whether it’s him or other candidates, I can’t wait to see who assumes that role in 2024.