Three Years of Pass Rushing Productivity: Interior D-Line June 26th, 2012 | Author: Khaled Elsayed Yesterday, we kicked off our three-year look back at our Signature Stats by tucking into our first ever Signature Stat: Pass Rushing Productivity. It’s a way of determining the most productive pass rushers (as the name implies), looking past total sack numbers to examine the entire amount of pressure a player gets and on how many pass rushes it comes. By weighing hits and hurries as worth 75% of a sack, dividing by the number of times a player rushes the quarterback and then multiplying by 100 you get a shiny, nice number. We started with edge rushers, so logically we’re going to turn our attention to those playing closer to center, by breaking down defensive tackles, nose tackles, and 3-4 defensive ends. To make the list you needed to have rushed the passer at least 600 times over the past three years, leaving us with 70 brave warriors to dissect. Let’s get to it. Iron Men So which player has rushed the passer more than any other? 49er fans won’t be surprised to hear the name of Justin Smith called, with the former Bengal rushing the passer 1,592 times in the regular season over three years. To put that in perspective, only Jared Allen has rushed the QB more from any spot. That’s quite incredible when you consider the size and motor (has anyone ever seen Smith take a play off?) of the man who finished second in our Top 101 players of 2011. Behind Smith there’s a tie between Kevin Williams and Darnell Dockett who both rushed the quarterback 1,503 times, while the Texans’ Antonio Smith and Cardinals’ Calais Campbell round out the Top five. Just after them, despite being released and limited to a rotational role in Chicago, Amobi Okoye rushed the passer the sixth-most of any interior linemen. That should give you an indication of how overused he was in Houston. Name/ Team/ Pass Rush Snaps 1 Justin Smith SF 1592 2 Darnell Dockett ARZ 1503 3 Kevin Williams MIN 1503 4 Antonio D. Smith HST 1490 5 Calais Campbell ARZ 1435 6 Amobi Okoye TB 1321 7 Jay Ratliff DAL 1314 8 Jonathan Babineaux ATL 1250 9 Vince Wilfork NE 1236 10 Ray McDonald SF 1223 Total Pressure It won’t be all that much of a surprise that after leading his peers in pass rushing snaps Smith also leads them in total pressure. With 187 combined sacks, hits, and hurries, Smith has 21 more than the man in second place. That man is Antonio Smith who, it should be mentioned, spent his 2009 and 2010 seasons playing as a defensive end in the Texans’ base package, which does give him something of an advantage. It also speaks volumes for his versatility that he managed to pick up so much pressure playing a variety of positions. The gap between the Smith’s to those in third and fourth place is quite substantial, with the Cardinals’ duo of Dockett and Campbell at 127 and 122 QB disruptions, respectively. Eagles defensive tackle and former Packers defensive end, Cullen Jenkins, rounds out the Top 5 with 113. Name/ Team/ Pass Rush Snaps/ Total Pressure 1 Justin Smith SF 1592 187 2 Antonio D. Smith HST 1490 166 3 Darnell Dockett ARZ 1503 127 4 Calais Campbell ARZ 1435 122 5 Cullen Jenkins PHI 1114 113 6 Richard Seymour OAK 1212 109 7 Kevin Williams MIN 1503 108 8 Jonathan Babineaux ATL 1250 97 9 Tommy Kelly OAK 1205 93 10 Amobi Okoye TB 1321 91 Pass Rush Productivity So we know who rushed the passer most often, and who picked up the most pressure. Now the question becomes who was the most productive on a per-play basis? Well, making it a clean sweep of things, Justin Smith was the top dog, while Geno Atkins led defensive tackles after posting 80 combined sacks, hits, and hurries on 727 pass rushes. Not bad for a player who didn’t start until this year. While the usual suspects (Antonio Smith and Cullen Jenkins) find themselves in the Top 10, there are some others that may surprise. Jason Hatcher is fifth, while Wallace Gilberry is one spot behind him and there’s even an appearance from the vaunted Albert Haynesworth in the eighth spot. Name/ Team/ Pass Rush Snaps/ Total Pressure/ PRP 1 Justin Smith SF 1592 187 9.16 2 Geno Atkins CIN 727 80 8.70 3 Antonio D. Smith HST 1490 166 8.62 4 Cullen Jenkins PHI 1114 113 8.01 5 Jason Hatcher DAL 617 60 7.62 6 Wallace Gilberry TB 776 73 7.54 7 Shaun Rogers NYG 708 69 7.49 8 Albert Haynesworth FA 618 58 7.28 9 Richard Seymour OAK 1212 109 7.08 10 Vonnie Holliday ARZ 646 58 7.04 11 Cory Redding IND 852 75 6.90 12 Tony Brown TEN 698 61 6.88 13 Calais Campbell ARZ 1435 122 6.79 14 Darnell Dockett ARZ 1503 127 6.60 15 Kendall Langford STL 864 74 6.57 16 Henry Melton CHI 678 56 6.56 17 Jason D. Jones SEA 948 78 6.46 18 Kyle D. Williams BUF 898 73 6.35 19 Shaun Ellis FA 929 72 6.16 20 Tommy Kelly OAK 1205 93 6.12 Meanwhile, things don’t tend to look so good when you are focused on Aubrayo Franklin, Tyson Jackson, or Casey Hampton. All three are primarily known for their run stopping (which is especially the case with Franklin and Hampton), but their lack of ability to make plays in the passing game is increasingly interesting as teams use more receiver sets that force nickel packages onto the field. That’s part of the reason why a run-plugger like Franklin has found such a soft market for his services the past two years in free agency. Of all the players near the bottom, the biggest concerns would be Vince Wilfork and Ziggy Hood, with Wilfork’s ridiculously high snap count (1,236 pass rushes) not helping him. Both men tend to play in the nickel packages, and it may be something that changes in the coming year. Name/ Team/ Pass Rush Snaps/ Total Pressure/ PRP 1 Aubrayo Franklin SF 641 11 1.37 2 Tyson Jackson KC 613 17 2.16 3 Casey Hampton PIT 663 20 2.41 4 Roy Miller TB 614 20 2.57 5 Ryan McBean BAL 695 26 2.95 6 Glenn Dorsey KC 1134 44 2.98 7 Vince Wilfork NE 1236 48 3.01 8 Justin Bannan DEN 730 30 3.12 9 Ziggy Hood PIT 1036 44 3.31 10 Isaac Sopoaga SF 680 29 3.31 As a loyal Pro Football Focus reader you know that numbers do not tell the whole story. So, if you’re looking at pure statistical analysis then it doesn’t get more accurate than our PRP Signature Stat. If you’re looking for something with a bit more context, then we’d recommend our Premium Analysis Package, which takes into account how the pressure came about to really examine pass rushers.
