Alex Highsmith leads the Steelers stellar defensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers came through with a 10-point win over the New Orleans Saints coming out of their bye. The offense moved the ball efficiently, did not turn it over, and kept the punt team off the field the entire second half. The defense showed their dominance by only allowing two drives past midfield all day and only giving up one first down in the second half.

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 10 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 47 snaps on defense in Sunday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

OLB Alex Highsmith: 91.4 (43 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 89.9 (39 snaps)
DT Montravius Adams: 89.7 (13 snaps)
S Damontae Kazee: 76.0 (47 snaps)
CB Levi Wallace: 75.5 (47 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

ILB Robert Spillane: 62.1 (47 snaps)
OLB Malik Reed: 61.5 (14 snaps)
CB Cam Sutton: 60.8 (47 snaps)
DT Chris Wormley: 60.3 (15 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 50.2 (6 snaps)

Defensive Front Five

OLB Alex Highsmith: 91.4 (43 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 89.9 (39 snaps)
DT Montravius Adams: 89.7 (13 snaps)
DT Larry Ogunjobi: 73.1 (36 snaps)
OLB T.J. Watt: 71.5 (37 snaps)
OLB Malik Reed: 61.5 (14 snaps)
DT Chris Wormley: 60.3 (15 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 50.2 (6 snaps)

Wow, what a group of impressive scores at the top of this position group! Alex Highsmith had his highest score of his career with a 91.4 thanks in part to a 90.9 pass rush score. Cam Heyward continues to do Cam Heyward things and had the top run defense score on the team this week with an 86.5. Montravius Adams was yet another player with his best score since Week 10 of his rookie year in 2017 despite only playing 13 snaps. While many are looking for the score of T.J. Watt, which was solid with a 71.5, it is way down the list simply because of how well everyone else played. But to think T.J. Watt and his impact on the defense did not affect other scores would be naïve. I should also note that Tyson Alualu and his score of 50.2, while improved significantly over his previous eight games, was the only score on the entire defense below the 60.0 standard. This just goes to show the defensive effort of the entire team on Sunday.

Inside Linebackers

ILB Devin Bush: 73.2 (40 snaps)
ILB Robert Spillane: 62.1 (47 snaps)

The Steelers only utilized the two linebackers this week as they never broke the glass for Myles Jack in case they needed him in an emergency. When it came to these players, Devin Bush landed with a solid score across the board with a 70.4 in run defense, 77.1 in tackling, and a 68.1 in coverage. When it came to Robert Spillane, he had great scores in run defense (80.6) and tackling (81.6) but, to no surprise of Steelers’ fans, was brought down with his coverage score of 49.8 for the game.

Defensive Backs

S Damontae Kazee: 76.0 (47 snaps)
CB Levi Wallace: 75.5 (47 snaps)
S Terrell Edmunds: 74.5 (47 snaps)
CB Arthur Maulet: 74.2 (31 snaps)
S Tre Norwood: 63.8 (8 snaps)
CB Cam Sutton: 60.8 (47 snaps)

Despite only using six players in the secondary, the Steelers got above the line play from everybody. I’m not exactly sure why Cam Sutton was brought down with his 59.7 coverage score as PFF had him giving up 39 yards on three receptions on six targets and a 70.8 passer rating when targeted. Surprisingly, the surrendered touchdown was credited to Levi Wallace yet his score remained solid. Personally, I feel the touchdown was the responsibility of Robert Spillane. But seeing DeMonte Kazee and Levi Wallace turning out great scores in their returns along with the solid play of Terrell Edmunds and Arthur Maulet and the Steelers secondary had them selves quite a day.

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.