Sunday, January 10, 2016

More Stats You Need to Know - QB Hits, 2015

SEASON IN REVIEW
By Nick Webster

Vernon. Credit: Wikipedia Commons
First reported a few weeks ago. Pro Football Journal has been tracking QB hits sans sacks all season. How important is hitting the Quarterback? We might never know the cumulative effect, though watching Aaron Rogers this year, or David Carr in years past, one has to appreciate that there is a material cumulative effect of all that pressure.

We can, however, measure a more direct effect – look at this year’s final NFL passing statistics when the passer was hit versus when they weren’t:

A full 28-point drop in passer rating when hit, note however, this is not controlled for the passer, future research will investigate the relative rate at which various passers take hits in order to 100% fully control for the effect of the play. 

But for now – a focus on the defenders. Once again, J.J. Watt was the NFL’s leader in QB Hits.  A surprise in 2nd place with Olivier Vernon of the Miami Dolphins coming on late in the season, excelling after Cameron Wake’s season ended with injury.  The remainder of the list reads like a list of the top pass rushers, with the notable exception of the league’s second-leading sacker Khalil Mack who finished with just 10, far behind Watt and Donald who he battled for Defensive Player of the Year.

Rk
Player
Hit
1
J.WATT
32
2
O.VERNON
30
3
A.DONALD
27
4
V.MILLER
23
5
E.ANSAH
21
6
M.BENNETT
21
7
C.DUNLAP
20
8
E.GRIFFEN
20
9
C.AVRIL
17
10
M.WILKERSON
17
11
E.DUMERVIL
16
12
A.LYNCH
16
13
L.WILLIAMS
16
14
C.CAMPBELL
15
15
T.JOHNSON
15
16
A.CLAYBORN
14
17
G.HARDY
14
18
P.MCPHEE
14
19
J.ALLEN
13
20
Many at
13

Other categories of interest:

Category
Player
Team
Hit
NFL Leader
J.J. Watt
Hou
32
NFC Leader
Aaron Donald
StL
27
AFC Leader
J.J. Watt
Hou
32
LB Leader
Von Miller
Den
23
DB Leader
Corey Graham
Buf
7
Rookie Leader
Leonard Williams
NYJ
16

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