Cam Sutton leads the Steelers defensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered another crushing defeat on Sunday, this time to the top team in the NFC. The opening drive for each team was a snapshot of the game as the Steelers lost 7 yards on three plays and punted while the Eagles had a 9-play, 68-yard drive that ended with a 39-yard touchdown pass. The offense still couldn’t put up enough points, and the defense couldn’t stop the big plays.

But how did the individual players grade out?

For this exercise, we will be looking at the player grades from Pro Football Focus (PFF) for the Steelers Week 8 performance. Remember, these are just the grades for the Steelers for this past game and not combined with their previous performances. Before going any further, I must give the typical disclaimer that PFF grades are subjective. While some people rely on them heavily, others are quite skeptical of the process in which they are determined. It is completely up to each person as to how much stock they put into PFF’s grades. For me, I often look at the grades to see if my own “eye test” lines up with what others viewed as how a player performed. If nothing more, the grades create a discussion about how accurate, or inaccurate, they are each week.

Instead of looking at the entire team at once, we break up the scores into offense and defense. Next up is the defense. Included will be all the players who played at least one defensive snap and the total snap counts for each player will be included. For reference sake, the Steelers played 57 snaps on defense in Sunday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

CB Cam Sutton: 78.2 (57 snaps)
DT Chris Wormley: 71.6 (41 snaps)
ILB Devin Bush: 69.0 (42 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 67.3 (39 snaps)
S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 64.1 (57 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

S Terrell Edmunds: 42.9 (56 snaps)
ILB Robert Spillane: 40.0 (26 snaps)
S Tre Norwood: 37.2 (3 snaps)
CB Ahkello Witherspoon: 33.0 (30 snaps)
ILB Myles Jack: 26.9 (51 snaps)

Defensive Front Five

DT Chris Wormley: 71.6 (41 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 67.3 (39 snaps)
OLB Malik Reed: 62.6 (32 snaps)
OLB Ryan Anderson: 60.9 (7 snaps)
OLB Alex Highsmith: 59.0 (50 snaps)
DT Isaiahh Loudermilk: 54.8 (23 snaps)
DT Montravius Adams: 49.5 (24 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 49.0 (15 snaps)
DT Carlos Davis: 45.3 (12 snaps)

Chris Wormley has quietly been putting up decent PFF scores all season with the exception of a couple games. Not having to be a starter and being more of a role player has suited him much better. I was surprised to see Carlos Davis with the bottom score of the group as he had his first career sack, but perhaps it was the other 11 players that really cost him. I also found it interesting that Jamir Jones did not get any defensive snaps which does not bode well for him as it would likely be either him or Ryan Anderson who no longer have a roster spot with the return of T.J. Watt.

Inside Linebackers

ILB Devin Bush: 69.0 (42 snaps)
ILB Robert Spillane: 40.0 (26 snaps)
ILB Myles Jack: 26.9 (51 snaps)

Devin Bush ended up way above his teammates in this group as all of his scores were above the line with 63.9 in run defense, 75.0 tackling, 61.0 pass rush, and 67.0 in coverage. Seeing Myles Jack as the bottom person on the entire defense is very disheartening. I will admit that Jack did not stand out for me in a good way on Sunday, but I wasn’t paying enough attention to him to notice if it was bad. His 28.8 coverage score was worst on the team and he also brought a team-worst 30.3 run defense score.

Defensive Backs

CB Cam Sutton: 78.2 (57 snaps)
S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 64.1 (57 snaps)
CB Arthur Maulet: 60.4 (35 snaps)
CB James Pierre: 57.1 (27 snaps)
S Terrell Edmunds: 42.9 (56 snaps)
S Tre Norwood: 37.2 (3 snaps)
CB Ahkello Witherspoon: 33.0 (30 snaps)

Despite Cam Sutton having the top score on all the defense, every single player in this group saw their score go down from the previous week. Even though Minkah Fitzpatrick had a rough game by most standards, he pulled in one of the few scores that was better than average. Ahkello Witherspoon shows why the Steelers chose to go with James Pierre late in the second quarter as the score backs up the move. Witherspoon had a 29.9 coverage score while Pierre’s wasn’t great but was much better at a 51.2. It was also disheartening to see Terrell Edmunds struggle on Sunday when he had been such an asset this season. It was Edmunds’ lowest score since Week 8 of last season.

So, what do you think of the above grades? Do they pass the eye test? Let us know your thoughts on the Steelers’ defensive grades in the comments below.