Sig Stats: PRP, Defensive Interior

Earlier today we reflected on who the most productive edge rushers were when it came to getting to the passer. Well it only seems right to give those guys working on the inside their due as we see which defensive tackles and 3-4 ends topped the PFF Pass Rushing Productivity Signature Stat.

As with before, PRP looks not only at how many sacks a defensive player gets, but also the hurries and hits and compares that number to the amount of times they actually rushed the passer to see who was the most productive.

(To qualify for the study a player must have logged at least 200 snaps rushing the passer).

No surprises who the top dog is. Our three-peating Stephenson Award winner for Best Player in Football J.J. Watt had another season for the ages, with the only challenge for us deciding to place him as an edge rusher or an interior one. His base position as a 3-4 end made the choice for us, but really you could have no qualms where you placed him such was his dominance wherever he lined up.

The most striking thing about him is just how much better he was than everyone else. He’s almost in a category of his own, pushing an understated but impressive first year from Jason Hatcher in Washington, into an extremely distant second spot.

Rookie Watch

In 13th spot overall comes the first rookie. A PFF All-Pro selection and our Defensive Rookie of the Year, Aaron Donald. With the kind of explosion off the snap that made him impossible to deal with whether running or passing the football, Donald quickly ensured that the coaches weren’t going to start him on the bench with a string of impressive cameos making way to a last half of the season full of plays.

You have to go a long way down for the next rookie, with Stephon Tuitt in 43rd spot, though it’s worth noting that with 13 more snaps Timmy Jernigan  would have qualified for the study and finished second overall.

Top on the Team

One last thing to look at is who was the most productive interior rusher on each team and where that ranked.

As ever with stats, they will not tell the full story. We’d recommend a PFF Premium package that takes more things into account such as nature and speed of pressure and whether it came blocked or unblocked. Find out more about a Premium Subscription here.

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