Steelers Snap Counts, Grades vs Patriots: DL Picks Up Watt’s Slack
Check out the Pittsburgh Steelers snap counts and grades from the 2022 home-opening loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.
QUARTERBACK
Mitch Trubisky had a 62 PFF rating in his first start with the Steelers. His second game? A very consistent 61.6.
| QB Mitch Trubisky | 63 | 100% | |
| QB Kenny Pickett | 0 | 0% |
RUNNING BACK
Despite coming off an injury and being limited in practice this week, Najee Harris carried even more of the workload at running back. He had a higher percentage of the snap count and had 15 rushes compared to 10 in Week 1. His average yards per carry rose from an abysmal 2.3 to a still-bad 3.3, but at least it showed progress.
| RB Najee Harris | 42 | 71% | +11% |
| RB Jaylen Warren | 17 | 29% | -8% |
| FB Derek Watt | 1 | 2% | -8% |
| RB Benny Snell Jr. | 0 | 0% |
Harris had a 65.3 PFF grade, up from 56.5 in Week 1. Warren’s 61 was well up from 48.9.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Other than Mason Cole not getting banged up this time around not using Trent Scott as an extra tight end, things were status quo for the offensive line from a playing-time standpoint.
| LT Dan Moore Jr. | 59 | 100% | |
| RT Chukwuma Okorafor | 59 | 100% | |
| LG Kevin Dotson | 59 | 100% | |
| RG James Daniels | 59 | 100% | |
| C Mason Cole | 59 | 100% | +6% |
| C J.C. Hassenauer | 0 | 0% | -6% |
| TE Trent Scott | 0 | 0% | -3% |
| T Jesse Davis | 0 | 0% |
Okorafor was the highest-graded player on the line for the second week in a row, this time getting all the way up to 84.6. Kevin Dotson (76.7), James Daniels (69.1) and Mason Cole (69.1) all had above-average grades.
TIGHT END
Slightly less usage for Pat Freiermuth, even though he was a bigger part of the game plan early, and slightly more for Zach Gentry. Connor Heyward picked up some of the snaps that had gone to Trent Scott and Derek Watt.
| TE Pat Freiermuth | 48 | 81% | -8% |
| TE Zach Gentry | 20 | 34% | +4% |
| TE Connor Heyward | 4 | 7% | +5% |
Freiermuth had the second-worst grade of his career after three drops.
WIDE RECEIVER
George Pickens played nearly the whole game and still only got three targets, one of which was a Hail Mary and another was 10 yards out of bounds.
| WR Chase Claypool | 54 | 92% | |
| WR Diontae Johnson | 51 | 86% | +5% |
| WR George Pickens | 50 | 85% | +15% |
| WR Gunner Olszewski | 8 | 14% | |
| WR Miles Boykin | 0 | 0% | -13% |
Diontae Johnson saw his grade spike from 69.2 to 84.4. Chase Claypool went the other way, without any running tries to raise his level.
DEFENSIVE LINE
With DeMarvin Leal and Cam Heyward both playing a lot of the rush end position where T.J. Watt usually lines up in the Steelers’ sub packages, all five defensive linemen saw a bump in playing time.
| DT Cam Heyward | 52 | 76% | +19% |
| DT Larry Ogunjobi | 43 | 63% | +10% |
| NT Tyson Alualu | 32 | 47% | +13% |
| DE DeMarvin Leal | 16 | 24% | +7% |
| NT Montravius Adams | 11 | 16% | +11% |
DeMarvin Leal led the way with a 78.7 grade, as the lack of pass-rush push and lack of run-stopping was reflected with downward grades for Cam Heyward, Tyson Alualu and Larry Ogunjobi.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS
As expected, Malik Reed was the biggest recipient of T.J. Watt’s snaps, but it was surprising that Jamir Jones got even less run than he did in the opener. The usage of the defensive linemen definitely took away from the workload here.
| OLB Alex Highsmith | 57 | 84% | +1% |
| OLB Malik Reed | 45 | 66% | +34% |
| OLB Delontae Scott | 7 | 10% | +10% |
| OLB Jamir Jones | 6 | 9% | -9% |
| 0 | 0% | -66% |
Alex Highsmith had another strong game, with a 73.8 grade despite not getting any sacks.
INSIDE LINEBACKER
Devin Bush was injured and didn’t finish the game, so that explains the slightly elevated usage of Robert Spillane. The Steelers played very little Dime, so the inside linebackers were up across the board.
| ILB Myles Jack | 59 | 87% | +21% |
| ILB Devin Bush Jr. | 31 | 46% | -5% |
| ILB Robert Spillane | 22 | 32% | +3% |
| ILB Marcus Allen | 0 | 0% |
DEFENSIVE BACK
The Steelers played their usual five defensive backs almost the whole game, generally eschewing Art Maulet and the heavier Nickel package they possess. They also played very little Dime.
| SS Terrell Edmunds | 68 | 100% | |
| FS Minkah Fitzpatrick | 68 | 100% | |
| BCB Ahkello Witherspoon | 68 | 100% | |
| BCB/SCB Cam Sutton | 68 | 100% | +1% |
| BCB Levi Wallace | 59 | 87% | +54% |
| SCB Art Maulet | 8 | 12% | -48% |
| FS/SCB Tre Norwood | 6 | 9% | -26% |
| SS Miles Killebrew | 0 | 0% | -1% |
| BCB James Pierre | 0 | 0% |
Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds graded out excellently, at 79.7 and 86.5. The corners struggled in comparison.
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