Pass Protection

Running backs. They break tackles. They juke defenders out of their shoes. They push the pile. They catch the ball and drop the ball.  They fumble the ball and score touchdowns. They create memories.
 
Sometimes, though, what they do doesn’t leave a mark. Sure, there’ll be the odd bone-jarring hit that makes those highlight reels, but more often than not, there’s an element of back play that gets lost in the chatter.
 
Blitz pick up.
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If you’ve been reading Pro Football Focus daily (as your doctor will recommend), then you’ll know this week (and last) we’ve been looking at pass protection. We’ve shown which individuals give up the most pressure, both in 2010 (tackles, guards and centers) and over the past three years.
 
But we limited that look to offensive linemen. Now we’re going to turn our attention to those ‘skill’ players who try and get in on the act and help their team. Tomorrow will be the running backs, but today we’re going after the tight ends, and for some it won’t be pretty.
 
Not content at dropping those unique PFF stats for 2010, this article will also offer goodness from the past three years. But enough lyrical waxing about what to expect, let’s get to it. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve been reading along this week you’ve noted that we’ve been focusing on individuals in pass protection (2010 tackles, 2010 guards & centers). Today is no different, except that we won’t just be looking at 2010. No, this time we’re going to look at the data we’ve collected since 2008.
 
Getting past any talk of an up or down year last year, we’ll show here who have been the most efficient – and inefficient – in this three-year span when it comes to pass protection on a per play basis.
 
So, who has been the best? The worst? Let’s begin with the tackles. Read the rest of this entry »

When people think of pass protection the thing that immediately springs to mind are offensive tackles.  Those guys dealing with the dominant defensive ends and outstanding outside linebackers.
 
No doubt it’s important, but it’s also important for a quarterback to be able to step up in the pocket and into his throws. For that you need guards and centers who can hold their ground and not let defensive tackles get a push or penetrate past them.
 
So Part 2 of our Pass Blocking (In)Efficiency week sees us turning our attention to those interior men doing just that. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week was all about pass protection. This week is all about … pass protection.
 
But after spending five days writing about teams, I’m going to shift the focus to individual players. This entire week is going to be dedicated to looking at which offensive players gave up the least and most pressure from the 2010 season. And, as a special bonus, I’ll be pulling data from the past three years to look at things over a longer timescale as well.
 
As with all these pieces it’s a simple enough formula. Our grading has seen plays where hits and hurries are given up, valued at roughly three quarters the worth of a sack. So our formula includes a pretty basic weighting that correlates. Read the rest of this entry »

Starting Monday, we’ll begin a series breaking down the best individual pass protectors for 2010, so be sure to check back in.
 
In the mean time – on the heels of our 2010 team pass protection rankings – here’s a quick look back at what the same formula produced in 2009.

A familiar group would up at the top as Indianapolis’ concoction of few extra blockers and quick-triggered quarterback balanced a relatively porous line and again formed the pressure-handling unit that others looked up to.
 
Linked below is the three-part series written by Neil Hornsby. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday we started our countdown to the top pass protection unit of 2010. Today we finish it.
 
For those just catching up with what we’ve been doing this week, we’ve been looking at a number of features that go into a method for determining the best team in pass protection of the past season.
 
How we put it all together was laid out in Part 1, but to briefly recap, we considered who gave up the most pressure on a per play basis, how much of that pressure turned into sacks, and how many blockers teams kept in. Read the rest of this entry »

So we’ve been building to it all week and now it’s here.
 
On Monday we looked at pressure per play, Tuesday it was about how much of that pressure turned into sacks, and yesterday, how many blockers each team kept in on average.
 
The prep is done. All that remains is a countdown (because countdowns are so much more fun) to our top pass protection unit using the formula we introduced last year:
 
Pressure Per Play multiplied by Average Number of Pass Blockers Per Play (multiplied by a 1000) equals the Pass Protection Rating.
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Day three of our breakdown of what goes into pass protection and we’re now just one piece away from unveiling our rankings. If you’ve missed it, we’ve already gone over who gives up the most pressure (and where), and yesterday we looked at which teams are best (and worst) when it comes to preventing that pressure from turning into sacks.
 
Up next, and the third part of what makes up the formula for our rankings, we’re looking at the average number of blockers each team held in over the season.
 
There’s obviously bound to be some correlation between the number of blockers left in, and how much pressure gets through, but, while we’ve ranked the units from least amount of men kept in to most, keeping in fewer doesn’t necessarily make you the better pass-blocking team. It’s about adding just enough and finding that balance that limits your weaknesses in pass protection, but gives your quarterback the options to expose weaknesses in your opponent’s coverage. Read the rest of this entry »

In our continuing look at what makes a strong pass protection unit, we’ve got an article intended to be short, sweet, and focused solely on which teams are the best at keeping pressure from turning into sacks.
 
If you’ve seen our pass rushing productivity pieces in recent years, you may remember that we value a hit or a hurry at three quarters the worth of a sack. This number is one that falls in line with the average grades given players when registering hits or hurries, as opposed to sacks.
 
So, while we’ll always tell you hits and hurries are nearly as important as sack, we’ll follow with the fact that sacks are simply more important as they guarantee a negative play for the offense. Which makes today’s question all the more pertinent. Read the rest of this entry »