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 2^nd 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