Minkah Fitzpatrick leads the Steelers defensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers continued their 2022 NFL season with their final preseason matchup on Sunday in Pittsburgh against the Detroit Lions. Although the Steelers came away with a victory, there were still areas of growth to work out over the next two weeks. While it was discouraging to see the offense settle for field goals, it was also encouraging to see the defense have a shutout in the first 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 final preseason 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. First 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 74 snaps on defense in Sunday’s preseason game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 89.9 (34 snaps)
S Elijah Riley: 89.0 (36 snaps)
OLB Delontae Scott: 84.9 (16 snaps)
CB Linden Stephens: 75.4 (36 snaps)
ILB Myles Jack: 74.7 (23 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

ILB Devin Bush: 39.8 (23 snaps)
OLB Ron’Dell Carter: 39.6 (26 snaps)
DT Carlos Davis: 36.4 (30 snaps)
OLB Hamlicar Rashed Jr.: 34.3 (43 snaps)
DT Larry Ogunjobi: 29.8 (24 snaps)

Defensive Front Five

OLB Delontae Scott: 84.9 (16 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 71.6 (23 snaps)
OLB T.J. Watt: 71.0 (21 snaps)
OLB James Vaughters: 65.1 (26 snaps)
DT Henry Mondeaux: 65.0 (12 snaps)
DT Khalil Davis: 61.0 (16 snaps)
OLB Derrek Tuszka: 50.8 (32 snaps)
DT Chris Wormley: 50.0 (16 snaps)
DT DeMarvin Leal: 49.5 (36 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 47.0 (9 snaps)
DT Donovan Jeter: 46.1 (16 snaps)
OLB Ron’Dell Carter: 39.6 (26 snaps)
DT Carlos Davis: 36.4 (30 snaps)
OLB Hamlicar Rashed Jr.: 34.3 (43 snaps)
DT Larry Ogunjobi: 29.8 (24 snaps)

While it’s great to see Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt towards the top of this list as they should be, there are several things on here that don’t pass the eye test for me. I was surprised to see DeMarvin Leal with a grade below or 50.0 and was completely shocked to see Larry Ogunjobi has the worst score on the team. With Hamilcar Rashed looking to grab an open spot on the outside linebacker depth chart, his low score doesn’t bode well especially since his main competition in Delonte Scott to topped the list.

Inside Linebackers

ILB Myles Jack: 74.7 (23 snaps)
ILB Buddy Johnson: 52.8 (36 snaps)
ILB Mark Robinson: 52.6 (48 snaps)
ILB Robert Spillane: 40.0 (27 snaps)
ILB Devin Bush: 39.8 (23 snaps)

All is right with the world again to see Myles Jack on the top of this list, I can’t figure out what PFF sees with Devin Bush. I did not think he played well last week but he ended up with a score in the 70s. I thought he was much improved in Week 3 and yet he’s back down below 40.0 for the game. I’m not saying he deserved a great score, but one would think when a player has a better game their score would increase and not be cut in half.

Defensive Backs

S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 89.9 (34 snaps)
S Elijah Riley: 89.0 (36 snaps)
CB Linden Stephens: 75.4 (36 snaps)
CB Levi Wallace: 70.9 (21 snaps)
CB Carlins Platel: 70.0 (31 snaps)
CB Chris Steele: 69.6 (18 snaps)
S Terrell Edmunds: 68.7 (34 snaps)
S Damontae Kazee: 67.0 (7 snaps)
CB Ahkello Witherspoon: 65.0 (34 snaps)
CB Cam Sutton: 58.3 (34 snaps)
CB Justin Layne: 58.0 (29 snaps)
CB James Pierre: 47.5 (19 snaps)
S Tre Norwood: 47.5 (55 snaps)

There were a lot of names from this group towards the top of this list, and none were in the bottom five. I don’t know if PFF finally figured out how Minkah Fitzpatrick is utilized or he just so happened to do things in a way they were expecting. It was also great to see Elijah Riley with a high score as he was making plays on Sunday after being with Steelers for only a couple practices. In all, I think the group is solid.

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.