Sig Stat Snapshot: Pass Blocking Efficiency

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What are numbers without context? That was the driving force behind our signature stats section and it’s why I’m able to write about things like the Pass Blocking Efficiency.

It’s a simple enough concept. If you judge an offensive linemen just by how many times they get beaten for a sack, then you’re really not judging them at all. You need to take into account how much total pressure they give up, how many snaps they’re in pass protection for, and how quickly the pressure comes.

Now this stat doesn’t take into account how quickly the pressure comes (that’s what our grading is for), but it does the other things so I can, without any doubt, say that this stat beats all the others when it comes to measuring the performance of offensive linemen in pass protection.

The formula is simple enough. You add all sacks with three quarters the worth of hits and hurries, divide by snaps in pass protection, take away from 100 and just like that you’ve got an efficiency formula.

Let’s see who the best and worst are.

No Ordinary Joe

It’s easy to forget with Joe Thomas playing for a perennially losing team like the Cleveland Browns, but he’s a lockdown left tackle. He’s given up just two sacks, two hits and eight hurries, averaging out to just one quarterback disruption per game. It helps he’s had four games where he hasn’t given up a single pressure and only four where he’s given up more than one. You can question how much a left tackle should earn, but you can’t question that right now none deserves to be paid more than Thomas.

One man who may test that is Ryan Clady. He’s ranked number two after giving up his first sack of the year this past week. Still with only 14 quarterback disruptions allowed on 431 dropbacks, he’s benefited at exactly the right time from the switch to Peyton Manning. Last year Clady was only 40th of all tackles while blocking for the unorthodox Tebow.

The sack Clady allowed this week meant that D’Brickashaw Ferguson is now the only tackle in the league not to have surrendered one. But it’s all the offensive line’s fault for the struggles of Sanchez right? Ferguson is a player who never gets his due as a consistently top notch tackle. Here’s the top 20.

Rank	Name	Team	Pass Block Snaps	Total Pressure Allowed	PBE
1	Joe Thomas	CLV	426	12	97.8
2	Ryan Clady	DEN	431	14	97.5
3	D'Brickashaw Ferguson	NYJ	385	14	97.3
4	Andrew Whitworth	CIN	411	14	97.2
5	Duane Brown	HST	399	15	97.1
6	Russell Okung	SEA	302	13	96.8
6	Orlando Franklin	DEN	429	17	96.8
8	Matt Kalil	MIN	411	18	96.7
9	Branden Albert	KC	360	16	96.6
10	Sebastian Vollmer	NE	387	18	96.4
11	Trent Williams	WAS	341	16	96.3
11	Michael Roos	TEN	401	19	96.3
13	William Beatty	NYG	372	18	96.2
14	David Stewart	TEN	431	22	96.1
15	Jared Veldheer	OAK	478	24	96
16	Jeff Backus	DET	447	24	95.9
17	Winston Justice	IND	386	22	95.7
17	Eugene Monroe	JAX	424	23	95.7
19	Marshall Newhouse	GB	444	24	95.6
20	Gosder Cherilus	DET	542	31	95.5

 

One of the things that stands out there is that rookie left tackle Matt Kalil finds himself up in 8th spot. That’s an impressive achievement for any player, let alone a rookie. It should be noted that he is coming off his worst game of the year after giving up six hurries to the Bears.

The implication of some of the performances we’re seeing this year could have a huge bearing come the end of the year. We’ve mentioned Ryan Clady, and he, along with others, will find themselves at the negotiating table once the season is done. He’s helping his stock in much the same way that Duane Brown already helped his, and Branden Albert is helping his. But for the former first overall pick from the same draft class? Well Jake Long (21st) is raising questions with his performance right now and it’s fascinating to see how his contract situation plays out. Will he get a contract based on his play since the beginning of 2011? Or will his deal recognize his ceiling and how good he was before that?

Turn over the page for the worst

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