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Steelers Analysis

Snap Counts: What Happened to Steelers DL Rotation?

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6 months ago

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Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers defense makes a tackle against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 12, 2023. -- Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

When Omar Khan, Andy Weidl and company set out to retool the Pittsburgh Steelers defense this offseason, it seemed pretty clear that they were building with a plan in mind.

They say the NFL is a copycat league, and what better mold to take for your team than that of the NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles — a team that Weidl had a hand in building in the first place.

The Eagles’ 2022 defensive front had abundant talent that came at opponents in waves. First-round pick Jordan Davis and former All-Pros Brandon Graham and Ndamukong Suh were all listed as second-teamers when the Eagles went to Super Bowl LVII.

For this year’s Steelers, you could see the same plan developing, with a top group of T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Cam Heyward and Larry Ogjunobi supplanted by a second unit of Markus Golden, Nate Herbig, Keeanu Benton and Montravius Adams.

Benton, Golden and Herbig were all acquisitions this offseason to bolster the front-line depth and give the Steelers a realistic second unit, as well as injury protection for their stars.

That’s the way the Steelers have been deploying their front seven this season, with some exceptions for injuries. But for whatever reason, that all went out the window last week against the Green Bay Packers.

The Steelers had 68 snaps of defense. T.J. Watt played 66, Alex Highsmith 63, Keeanu Benton 45, Larry Ogunjobi 44 and Cam Heyward 40. All of the rest of the Steelers’ defensive linemen and edge rushers played a combined 41 snaps. It’s not clear what the reason for the increased workload for the first team was, but it coincided with one of the Steelers’ least-productive day rushing the passer.

It’ll be interesting to monitor if this becomes a trend or is a one-game blip.

 

STEELERS OFFENSIVE SNAP COUNTS

Pos Player SF CLE LV HOU BAL LAR JAX TEN GB
QB Kenny
Pickett		 63 54 62 49 66 59 28 65 65
QB Mitch Trubisky 0 0 0 10 0 0 39 0 0
QB Mason Rudolph QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3
RB Najee
Harris		 33 31 31 29 37 34 35 38 33
RB Jaylen
Warren		 25 23 28 29 32 27 32 26 33
RB Anthony McFarland 5 IR IR IR IR IR IR IR 1
RB Qadree
Ollison		 — 0 1 — — — — — —
RB Godwin Igwebuike — — INA INA INA 0 0 0 INA
WR George
Pickens		 56 46 55 58 58 53 62 58 62
WR Diontae Johnson 27 IR IR IR IR 39 61 57 53
WR Allen
Robinson II		 56 47 50 50 57 38 46 47 50
WR Calvin Austin III 35 41 45 53 37 7 18 17 13
WR Miles
Boykin		 5 4 8 6 12 0 5 6 9
WR Gunner Olszewski INA 1 INJ INA 4 — — — —
TE Pat
Freiermuth		 32 41 49 30 INJ IR IR IR IR
TE Darnell Washingon 24 26 29 25 46 31 10 32 33
TE Connor Heyward 17 10 13 15 37 51 49 40 34
TE Rodney Williams II — — — — 4 11 12 3 3
LT Dan
Moore Jr.		 63 54 62 8 INJ 59 66 65 65
RT Chukwuma Okorafor 59 54 62 59 66 59 67 0 1
LG Issac
Seumalo		 63 54 62 59 66 59 67 65 65
RG James
Daniels		 63 54 62 INJ INJ 59 67 65 65
C Mason
Cole		 63 54 62 59 66 59 67 65 65
OT Broderick
Jones		 4 0 0 51 66 0 5 65 65
OT Dylan
Cook		 INA INA INA 0 0 INA INA INA INA
C/G Nate
Herbig		 0 0 0 59 66 0 0 0 0
OL Spencer Anderson 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
OL Ryan McCollum — — — — 0 — — — —

STEELERS DEFENSIVE SNAP COUNTS

Pos Player SF CLE LV HOU BAL LAR JAX TEN GB
DT Larry
Ogunjobi		 43 51 49 46 48 49 53 50 44
DT Montravius Adams 34 52 47 41 56 46 49 2 INA
DE DeMarvin
Leal		 26 39 33 21 INJ 23 14 24 4
NT Keeanu
Benton		 29 28 21 29 33 19 30 48 45
DT Armon
Watts		 INA 22 18 34 18 17 28 INA 22
DT Isaiahh Loudermilk 31 14 9 13 13 0 9 14 8
DT Cam
Heyward		 14 IR IR IR IR IR IR 41 40
NT Breiden
Fehoko		 — INA INA INA 0 INA INA INA INA
OLB T.J.
Watt		 48 70 59 62 60 57 56 69 66
OLB Alex
Highsmith		 49 68 52 63 61 53 63 63 63
OLB Markus
Golden		 25 19 20 13 14 14 14 11 5
OLB Nick
Herbig		 16 17 13 4 5 12 9 7 2
ILB Cole
Holcomb		 53 78 53 63 64 56 64 16 IR
ILB Kwon
Alexander		 47 52 47 27 31 47 38 64 9
ILB Elandon Roberts 29 27 17 42 29 19 31 37 65
ILB Mark
Robinson		 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 41
ILB Tariq Carpenter — — — — — — — — 0
CB Patrick
Peterson		 67 85 71 71 63 67 71 74 68
CB Levi
Wallace		 67 78 67 71 66 49 INJ 38 27
CB Joey
Porter Jr.		 7 14 27 10 28 53 59 70 68
CB James
Pierre		 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 0 0
CB Chandon Sullivan 13 47 18 21 24 22 28 16 19
CB Darius
Rush		 — — — — — INA 0 30 INA
CB Desmond
King		 — — 0 0 1 — — — —
FS Minkah Fitzpatrick 68 46 72 71 70 68 8 INA INA
S Damontae Kazee 49 77 53 34 43 58 67 74 68
SS Keanu
Neal		 33 61 41 45 42 17 69 66 56
SS Miles
Killebrew		 0 2 1 0 1 0 12 0 0
DB Elijah
Riley		 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 21
S Trenton Thompson — — — — — — — — 7
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