Alex Highsmith leads the Steelers defensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers got back in the win column with their third-straight victory on the road by defeating the Carolina Panthers. The offense took care of the football and sustained long drives which they finished off with touchdowns. As for the defense, they were dominant against the run as they now are responsible for two of the six games in 2022 where a team was held to less than 30 yards on the ground.

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 15 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 46 snaps on defense in Sunday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

OLB Alex Highsmith: 90.8 (45 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 90.5 (39 snaps)
ILB Devin Bush: 82.8 (25 snaps)
ILB Robert Spillane: 81.6 (46 snaps)
CB Arthur Maulet: 80.0 (17 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

DT DeMarvin Leal: 54.1 (12 snaps)
CB James Pierre: 52.2 (14 snaps)
CB Cam Sutton: 43.3 (46 snaps)
ILB Mark Robinson: 40.3 (9 snaps)
DT Montravius Adams: 36.5 (11 snaps)

Defensive Front Five

OLB Alex Highsmith: 90.8 (45 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 90.5 (39 snaps)
DT Isaiahh Loudermilk: 77.3 (9 snaps)
DT Larry Ogunjobi: 73.5 (31 snaps)
OLB T.J. Watt: 63.9 (38 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 56.0 (12 snaps)
OLB Malik Reed: 55.8 (9 snaps)
DT DeMarvin Leal: 54.1 (12 snaps)
DT Montravius Adams: 36.5 (11 snaps)

Although it wasn’t his highest score of his career as that came in Week 10 against the New Orleans Saints with a 91.4, Alex Highsmith did have his best run defense score ever by a large margin. In fact, his 93.7 rush defense score landed at the top of the NFL across all defensive positions for Week 15. Ironically, when Highsmith scores in the 90s with his overall score, the Steelers hold their opponent to under 30 rushing yards. This should not diminish the great score of Cam Heyward as him scoring in the 90s would normally put him on top of the list. In all, the Steelers got good scores from the majority of their defensive front. Continuing to not get much love from PFF, Larry Ogunjobi had a solid 73.5 score with a 75.5 run defense score this week. But as great as he played, I expected him to be up there with Heyward and Highsmith.

Inside Linebackers

ILB Devin Bush: 82.8 (25 snaps)
ILB Robert Spillane: 81.6 (46 snaps)
ILB Mark Robinson: 40.3 (9 snaps)

It was great to see two linebackers score of the 80s this week as Devin Bush brought an 84.2 run defense score which was his best in that department in his career. It was the second time he’s scored in the 80s in the last four games, but it was his coverage score against the Colts that brought him up. Spillane saw his highest score since the 2020 season with his also being attributed to a good score in the rushing department of an 82.5. As for Mark Robinson, I don’t know what they saw in his seven snaps to drop him so low. In his four snaps against the run he scored a 63.1 while his three snaps in coverage saw a 43.3 as PFF credited him with giving up a 17-yard reception. How his total ends up even lower than both of those scores still baffles me.

Defensive Backs

CB Arthur Maulet: 80.0 (17 snaps)
S Terrell Edmunds: 77.6 (44 snaps)
S Damontae Kazee: 64.1 (15 snaps)
S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 59.2 (46 snaps)
CB Levi Wallace: 55.0 (40 snaps)
CB James Pierre: 52.2 (14 snaps)
CB Cam Sutton: 43.3 (46 snaps)

While it was great to see Arthur Maulet hit a score of 80.0 as he is much more effective when the Steelers can utilize him in the manner they seem best, I actually felt Edmunds score of 77.6 was a bit low. He only had a 66.4 run defense score which I thought was lower on his end. He did lead the team with a 92.0 pass rushing score but it was only on two snaps. On the other end, I was surprised to see Cam Sutton with the lower overall score and coverage score (40.1) than James Pierre (51.6). Pierre was credited with giving up one reception on two targets but it was for 40 yards while Sutton gave up two receptions on four targets for 29 yards. Perhaps it was the pass interference penalty, which I think was very suspect, which brought his score down.

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.