The Steelers see a drop in Week 3 defensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped their second-straight game as they traveled to Cleveland on a short week. The offense showed some life in the first half, but the ability to get key first downs cost them down the stretch. As for the defense, the sheer volume of rushing attempts they faced shot up the yardage despite the Steelers being the more efficient team 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 3 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 72 snaps on defense in Thursday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

S Miles Killebrew: 73.4 (5 snaps)
OLB Alex Highsmith: 73.0 (68 snaps)
CB Cam Sutton: 72.3 (69 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 69.9 (56 snaps)
CB Levi Wallace: 68.6 (26 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 47.1 (72 snaps)
OLB Delontae Scott: 45.9 (9 snaps)
ILB Myles Jack: 42.2 (66 snaps)
OLB Jamir Jones: 39.0 (5 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 30.3 (39 snaps)

Defensive Front Five

OLB Alex Highsmith: 73.0 (68 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 69.9 (56 snaps)
DT DeMarvin Leal: 65.1 (13 snaps)
DT Montravius Adams: 55.9 (15 snaps)
OLB Malik Reed: 54.1 (57 snaps)
DT Larry Ogunjobi: 53.9 (48 snaps)
DT Chris Wormley: 51.4 (23 snaps)
OLB Delontae Scott: 45.9 (9 snaps)
OLB Jamir Jones: 39.0 (5 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 30.3 (39 snaps)

Last week Alex Highsmith was second in this position group and fourthoverall. This week, despite being top of the position group and the highest grade of anyone playing more than five snaps, his grade actually dipped slightly from a 73.8 to a 73.0. As you will see as we go on through the scores, it’s a common theme that the defensive scores were down overall compared to the previous week. Actually, the only improvements for this week along the front five came from Cam Heyward (64.8 to 69.9) and Larry Ogunjobi (51.7 to 53.9). As I’ve said before, PFF shows no love to Ogunjobi as he and Highsmith were the only two players to even get a quarterback hit (as they each had two) but yet he still scores in the 50s.

I will admit I’m starting to get a little concerned about the continued drop in scores of 35-year-old Tyson Alualu (64.8 to 48.2 to 30.3). I’m not saying the scores are even something I agree with, but when a player of that age has others scoring him in this manner, it is something of which to take note. Perhaps 10 days off until the next game will prove beneficial.

Inside Linebackers

ILB Robert Spillane: 63.6 (30 snaps)
ILB Devin Bush: 47.9 (55 snaps)
ILB Myles Jack: 42.2 (66 snaps)

Only four days later and playing another game saw the order of these scores flip. Additionally, both players who scored in the 60s last week scored in the 40s this week with Spillane scoring in the 40s last week and moving into the 60s this week. I’m not sure any of these scores really pass my eye test, but I admit I wasn’t focused as much on the inside linebackers. It was Spillane‘s coverage score of 78.3 which brought him up, and it was the highest coverage score on the Steelers defense this week.

Defensive Backs

S Miles Killebrew: 73.4 (5 snaps)
CB Cam Sutton: 72.3 (69 snaps)
CB Levi Wallace: 68.6 (26 snaps)
S Tre Norwood: 64.2 (2 snaps)
CB Arthur Maulet: 49.0(16 snaps)
S Terrell Edmunds: 48.5 (68 snaps)
CB Ahkello Witherspoon: 47.3 (50 snaps)
S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 47.1 (72 snaps)

And without a huge splash play, Minkah Fitzpatrick goes back to receiving no love from PFF. Given only a 46.1 coverage score, I find it quite interesting as PFF did not have him even targeted in the game. I guess when a team employs an “avoid at all cost” approach to a player, it causes their scores to be cut in half.

As for the rest of the secondary, I don’t even remember seeing Miles Killebrew on the field on defense but apparently when he was he was doing a nice job. It should also be noted that his blocked punt does not come into play here at all as instead it is what led him to have an 82.7 special teams score.

While the safeties topped the overall scores last week, they fell into the bottom of the position group along with starting cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon who left the game due to injury. In all, the defense, and by extension the secondary, gave up at 92.5 score to quarterback Jacoby Brissett.

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.