Sig Stats: Run Stop Percentage, LBs

The week we are continuing to take a look at players across the league based on some of our unique Signature Stats. These signature stats are somewhere between your everyday stats and our PFF grades, providing a greater look at player performance than regular stats can provide.

Last week we brought you our look at how running backs perform beyond the help of their offensive line, with our Elusive Rating.  This week we're switching to the other side of the ball again, casting our eye on how linebackers perform against the run with our Run Stop Percentage Signature Stat.

Tackle stats are one thing, but our Run Stop Percentage Signature Stat measures how often a player records a tackle that results in a defensive stop. As opposed to crediting a player for merely making a tackle somewhere in the field of play, this lets us see which players are making the important tackles.

To qualify, a linebacker needed to have played at least 120 snaps against the run.

Inside Linebackers

The Top 5

The top two players here, Brian Cushing and Sean Lee, both missed significant time for their respective teams in 2013 and both of those teams clearly felt the loss. It's not much of a surprise to see Cushing here, despite the injury, with him finishing each of the past three seasons with a RSP of 12.3% or higher, and the key for him is obviously just making sure he can get back on the field, and stay there, to help a Texans defense that missed him last year.

Likewise for Lee, with no other Dallas inside linebacker finishing with a RSP above 6.0 when they filled in for him. To put it in perspective, Lee had 38 tackles which resulted in a defensive stop last year, while Ernie Sims and DeVonte Holloman combined for 10.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, undrafted free agent Paul Worrilow may not have had the best rookie year, but he can at least hang his hat on a Top-5 RSP position in his first year in the league. Washington Redskins fans will be pleased to see new signing Akeem Jordan make an appearance, with him much higher up the list their own inside linebackers from last year, Perry Riley and London Fletcher.

The Bottom Five

As we mentioned above, Fletcher didn't have a great year, finishing 2013 with the second-lowest RSP. The lowest, though, was saved for a linebacker playing for the nearby Baltimore Ravens, Daryl Smith. Smith had a great year in coverage, but struggled to get off blocks against the run, something the Ravens have gambled was just a one-year blip as they re-signed him this offseason. A.J. Hawk's inclusion means he has now featured in the Bottom 5 twice in the past three years, falling back down in 2013 after finishing 2012 in sixth place with a RSP of 11.8%.

4-3 Outside Linebackers

The Top 5

It's really no surprise at all to see Lavonte David's name at the top of this list, following on from finishing at the top in his rookie season in 2012. He's emerged as the best 4-3 outside linebacker in football for good reason, and finished the year with 18 more stops against the run that the next highest player at the position.

The Denver  Broncos felt the effects of Von Miller's injury late in the year, and his suspension earlier, but they at least managed to get two high performers against the run at the position in Danny Trevathan and Nate Irving. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith rounds out the Top 5, highlighting that he wasn't merely a one-game wonder.

The Bottom Five

While they had one player in the Top 5, the Seattle Seahawks also had the low man on the list too, as Bruce Irvin made a position change and stood up in his second season in the league. It wasn't a great year for Irvin, but he did still grade out positively and it will be interesting to see if they keep him at linebacker, or move him back to the defensive line next year.

While signature stats give a clearer look at how linebackers have performed against the run, nothing quite compares to our PFF grades. The grades take into account things whether or not a player has had to beat a block to make the tackle, and gives credit too for the work that leads to the tackle happening. The good news, is that a PFF membership gives you access to both the grades, and our various signature stats, coming in at just $26.99 for a year’s membership.

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