Want to throw Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes or basically any NFL quarterback off their game? Unleash a powerful pass rush in their face.
Not the most shocking development in the world of football, I know. But obviously not every team can pull off this simple concept. And yet an effective pass rush can’t always be judged solely by sack totals. Some of the best “pressure” players may not tally monster sack numbers, but they’re still highly disruptive to opposing passers.
I dove into team and individual pass pressure percentages through the first five weeks to catch a glimpse of which clubs and players are or aren’t putting heat on quarterbacks.
For a team, pressure percentage is the percentage of opponent dropbacks in which the QB is pressured (sack, hit or hurry). For a player, it’s the percentage of their snaps as a pass rusher in which they pressure the QB (sack, hit or hurry).
(All stats via TruMedia. Player rankings are for qualified pass rushers — min. 70 pass rush snaps through Week 5. There are 159 qualified pass rushers for this study. The average pressure percentage for a qualified player is 9.6 percent. For a team it is 32.2 percent.)
2022 NFL defensive pressure rates through Week 5
(NFL ranks in parenthesis)
The top two…
Cowboys and 49ers
Dallas unleashed Micah Parsons as a pass rusher last season.
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