Pass Rushing Productivity: .......3rd & 4th Down

[michael89156]

Pass Rushing Productivity: 3rd & 4th Down

Khaled Elsayed | 2012/12/11

ProFootballFocus


Never let it be said that if you give us a good topic to write around we won’t have at it.
 
This week we were told to inform the masses who was picking up the most pressure on third down. So that’s what I was tasked with. Find out the most productive pass rushers in those most crucial of situations.
 
I expanded the look a little so I have included fourth down attempts as well, and the results, as you can imagine, are pretty interesting.
 



The Sack Specialists
 
Where better to start than telling you which players have the most sacks. It’s often seen, outside of interceptions, as the most definitive play a defender can make, and happening on third or fourth down means you’re nearly guaranteed to have killed a drive.
 
So who leads the way in this regard? Step forward Von Miller who has 11 sacks on third or fourth down. That’s three more than Cameron Wake in second, and Bruce Irvin in third. Perhaps the most impressive name on the list however is that of J.J. Watt, considering he’s normally rushing from the interior of the line in these obvious passing situations. Kudos.
 
Here’s the top 10.
 


Rank                                 Name             Team            Sacks


1                                   Von Miller            DEN               11

2                              Cameron Wake         MIA                8

3                               Bruce Irvin                SEA               7

4                               J.J. Watt                  HST                 6

4                            Mario Williams           BUF                  6

6                             Jason Babin             JAX                   5

6                              Paul Kruger              BLT                  5

6                              Aldon Smith              SF                    5

6                            Julius Peppers           CHI                   5

 
 
 
The Pressure Players
 
Still if there’s one thing we’ll try and condition you to doing it’s to look beyond sacks. They only account for a small percentage of a player’s total snaps in the year, and so it’s worth looking at the total pressure he generates. Sure it doesn’t guarantee a negative play but take a guy like Peyton Manning. We can all agree he’s pretty good right? Well when you don’t get pressure on him he completes 71.7% of his passes and has a 29:6 touchdown to interception ratio. When you do get pressure he completes 52.4% of passes and has a 1:4 TD to INT ratio.
 
Pressure is hugely significant and it’s why Cameron Wake deserves credit for overtaking Miller with his 30 combined quarterback disruptions. Miller is still up in second but the name in third will surprise a few; Derrick Morgan. He’s looked over the severe injury he suffered as a rookie and has really impressed.
 
Still the top 10 is almost as notable for who it doesn’t include as opposed to who it does. To some he is the leading defensive player of the year candidate, but Aldon Smith is all the way down in 18th spot behind guys like Greg Hardy, Juqua Parker and Paul Kruger despite having more opportunities to rush the passer.
 
Here’s the top 10.
 


Rank                               Name             Team                     Pressure

 
1                              Cameron Wake      MIA                           30

2                                   Von Miller         DEN                           28

3                               Derrick Morgan     TEN                           24

4                                Jason Babin        JAX                            23

4                             Michael Bennett      TB                             23

6                                 Bruce Irvin         SEA                            21

6                                 Chris Long           SL                             21

6                            Charles Johnson     CAR                           21

9                              Brian Robison        MIN                           20

10                                J.J. Watt            HST                           19                         

10                              Paul Kruger         BLT                            19

10                            Elvis Dumervil      DEN                            19

10                            John Abraham      ATL                             19


 
Productivity!
 
But even just looking at pressure numbers won’t give you an idea of who the most productive guys are. No you need to be able to work out how much pressure they got relative to how many times they rushed the passer. That’s where our Pass Rushing Productivity formula comes in handy.
 
With this little beauty of a formula I can categorically hand the victory to Cameron Wake in terms of who the most productive pass rusher in the league on third and fourth downs is after 14 weeks of NFL action. Kudos to Cameron Wake who edges out Miller, while Lamarr Woodley is up in third. You see what the Steelers are missing with his injuries keeping him off the field, with Woodley rushing the passer just 59 times on third down.
 
Here’s the top 10.
 


Rank                            Name               Team



1                           Cameron Wake        MIA

2                               Von Miller            DEN

3                           Lamarr Woodley      PIT

4                            Jason Babin           JAX

5                           Derrick Morgan       TEN

6                              Paul Kruger          BLT

7                            Bruce Irvin              SEA

8                       Michael Bennett           TB

9                        John Abraham            ATL

10                  Kamerion Wimbley        TEN


 
Of course numbers are never the be all and end all. But if you’re looking for a matter of fact way of assessing a guys’ impact on third and fourth down then look no further.
 
 
 
Follow Khaled on Twitter: @PFF_Khaled


For the complete numbers......https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/12/11/pass-rushing-productivity-3rd-4th-down/

[lyronmewis]

Bennett is good, but all of PFF stats on him just seem misleading. Maybe he's doing something well, but it just doesn't turn into results.

[NotDeadYet]

    Bennett is doing well enough, but we have near ZERO productivity from anyone else on 3rd and 4th. Good teams have MULTIPLE guys being productive; we rarely do, hence the problem on D...

[BucNY]

Bennett is good, but all of PFF stats on him just seem misleading. Maybe he's doing something well, but it just doesn't turn into results.

It's very easy to elude one good pass rusher. Look at the guys on the list with high sack totals. They all have other guys pressuring as well. An edge rusher can easily be neutralized by stepping up in the pocket. So a QB pressure by bennett make the QB step up and if there is no one there it's an easy play. If there isn't, bennett gets a sack or a DT picks it up.

[NotDeadYet]

    Not to point a finger, but I wonder what McCoy's 3rd and 4th down productivity is...
    Morgan has looked good in spot duty the last couple games, so maybe as his PT increases, along with Bowers, we'll see better pressure. Bowers, McCoy, Bennett and Morgan together ought to be able to make some hay...

[BucD]

It'd be a fairly epic of a fail on Mark Dominik's part if he lets this guy walk after the year.  Unless the guy (and his agent) are being completely unreasonable in their contract demands/what they are looking to get, he SHOULD be locked up fairly swiftly.  Can't let him sniff FA.

[bradentonian]

    Not to point a finger, but I wonder what McCoy's 3rd and 4th down productivity is...

Often in those situations McCoy is lined up head up over center where his effectiveness is severely compromised

[Feel Real Good]

Not to point a finger, but I wonder what McCoy's 3rd and 4th down productivity is...

I don't know but this list is pretty close to exclusively made up of edge rushers. You generally don't scheme for your pressure on 3rd and 4th down to come from a 300 lb interior lineman.

[Chief Joseph]

No, you scheme for them to collapse the pocket so the QB can't escape the edge rushers.

[Feel Real Good]

No, you scheme for them to collapse the pocket so the QB can't escape the edge rushers.

And that isn't what this statistic was built to measure.

[caradoc]

    Not to point a finger, but I wonder what McCoy's 3rd and 4th down productivity is...

On those downs our scheme apparently has him run out the tunnel, up the stairs, across Dale Mabry, back through the pirate ship, and then rush the passer.  Given the scheme, he's probably doing well...

[The Anti-Java]

Better resign Bennett, before he gets a wandering eye.  He may want to play with his bro in NY.

[Boid Fink]

Better resign Bennett, before he gets a wandering eye.  He may want to play with his bro in NY.

Agreed.

This guy needs to be resigned ASAP.

He is a productive DE, and the Bucs are light in the pass rush department, for yet ANOTHER season...I suppose by 2032 the Bucs will have their pass rush issues solved.

[Chief Joseph]

This dude sure talks about **CENSORED**s a lot. That you, FTW?