T.J. Watt leads the Steelers defensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers won their third game in a row with a come-from-behind victory over the Ravens in Baltimore Sunday night. The Steelers slowed down the Raven’s run game much better than when they faced off three weeks ago, and the offense put up almost 200 rushing yards against one of the NFL’s best defenses against the run.

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 17 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 52 snaps on defense in Sunday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

OLB T.J. Watt: 85.4 (49 snaps)
ILB Robert Spillane: 75.2 (52 snaps)
DT Larry Ogunjobi: 74.7 (42 snaps)
S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 73.4 (49 snaps)
CB Cam Sutton: 73.0 (52 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

DT DeMarvin Leal: 52.6 (27 snaps)
OLB Alex Highsmith: 51.9 (52 snaps)
ILB Myles Jack: 51.0 (6 snaps)
OLB Jamir Jones: 30.0 (3 snaps)
ILB Devin Bush: 29.1 (5 snaps)

Defensive Front Five

OLB T.J. Watt: 85.4 (49 snaps)
DT Larry Ogunjobi: 74.7 (42 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 61.0 (46 snaps)
DT Renell Wren: 60.4 (1 snap)
DT Isaiahh Loudermilk: 60.4 (4 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 59.9 (13 snaps)
DT Montravius Adams: 58.8 (29 snaps)
DT DeMarvin Leal: 52.6 (27 snaps)
OLB Alex Highsmith: 51.9 (52 snaps)
OLB Jamir Jones: 30.0 (3 snaps)

T.J. Watt turned in his highest score of 2022 as he edged out his Week 1 performance which brought a score of 84.6. What separated Watt this week was an 87.5 run defense score, a mark he had not seen since Week 5 of 2021. Larry Ogunjobi did get some love from PFF this week despite them giving him a 26.3 tackling score because he had one missed tackle. Seeing Alex Highsmith at the bottom is concerning, but it was a 42.3 coverage score which was worst on the team that brought him down as much as anything. Jamir Jones gives a score that makes questioning everything PFF does more magnified. I can’t figure out how someone has a 60.0 score for both run defense and coverage as well as a 58.7 for a pass rushing score all of which only consisted of one snap and equates to an overall score of 30.0. It just doesn’t make sense.

Inside Linebackers

ILB Robert Spillane: 75.2 (52 snaps)
ILB Mark Robinson: 57.5 (26 snaps)
ILB Myles Jack: 51.0 (6 snaps)
ILB Devin Bush: 29.1 (5 snaps)

Although he had a higher score just two weeks ago against the Carolina Panthers, Robert Spillane had another great performance while playing every snap of the game. Mark Robinson didn’t get much love from PFF as it was actually his run defense score that was lower as a 52.5 while he had his coverage score of 67.1 for the game. Myles Jack and Devin Bush hardly played, but Bush has a scenario very similar to Jamir Jones where you had a 53.1 run defense score, a 44.6 coverage score, and a 77.0 tackling score only to have an overall score in the 20s.

Defensive Backs

S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 73.4 (49 snaps)
CB Cam Sutton: 73.0 (52 snaps)
CB Levi Wallace: 71.5 (28 snaps)
S Damontae Kazee: 67.4 (17 snaps)
S Terrell Edmunds: 61.7 (50 snaps)
CB James Pierre: 60.9 (1 snap)
S Elijah Riley: 60.0 (1 snap)
CB Arthur Maulet: 59.8 (19 snaps)

Seeing overall solid performances in the secondary this week was significant. When wide receivers only catch two passes for 18 yards the entire game, either the defense is doing great, the offense is inept, or a combination of both. Arthur Maulet brought in the low score and it was barely below the 60.0 standard. Seeing players who are on the field for a high number of snap such as Minkah Fitzpatrick, Cam Sutton, and Levi Wallace followed closely by Damontae Kazee and Terrell Edmunds is exactly what you want to see.

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.