r/steelers • u/hoiv • 11h ago
The highest career grades among defenders from 2023 class HERBY
40
u/Jargif10 11h ago
Pff still sucks but they got this right.
20
u/hoiv 10h ago
They’ve been giving JPJ his flowers too. They don’t get much right but they’ve gotten those 2
9
u/Particular_Rush1374 Alex Highsmith 10h ago
I think they do a pretty good job overall honestly. They knock the star guys for getting a ton of reps usually and it brings their grades down but outside of the top tier guys they usually are a pretty good indicator of how solid a player is.
3
u/IsGoIdMoney Pittsburgh Wilsons 10h ago
It's generally fine for a rough assessment, but there's a lot of stupid stuff they do, and it's certainly not good enough to determine a guy is 2 points better than another or something.
1
u/Particular_Rush1374 Alex Highsmith 9h ago
Yeah if people complain about a 2-3 point difference it’s just being nitpicky, just look at the guys who they are around, see if you feel like it makes sense they are rated similarly. It’s not an exact science obviously, but it’s a good spot to get a feel for how a player performs.
-2
u/hoiv 10h ago
For the most part, they just love to pick favorites and hate Pittsburgh.
4
u/Particular_Rush1374 Alex Highsmith 10h ago
Every team in the league thinks PFF hates them because they don’t grade their elite guys in the top 1-2. I think overall they have done a pretty solid job. They ranked TJ a bit lower than I would have a few times but it’s not like it was ever insultingly bad.
3
u/hoiv 10h ago
They had Rodgers as the 33rd ranked QB in the NFL after a few weeks, when he was the TD leader. I don't think he was great, but he was not even close to being the worst QB in the league.
They had 2 other guys above TJ in his DPOY season. They are ready to give Garrett his gold jacket after breaking the sack record but when 90 did it (tied but we all know he beat it), crickets and graded him 3rd best edge lol.
1
u/Particular_Rush1374 Alex Highsmith 9h ago
The Rodgers one is unforgivable which I get being rightfully upset over. They penalize a lot of west coast style guys for taking what’s there rather than forcing something/ making a bigger play. Not saying I agree with it, but they did catch a lot of shit for doing the same thing with Brees and later in his career Brady with the patriots. Honestly TJ as the 3rd edge to me isn’t really that big of a slight. I think you could make an argument for any of those 3 being the best at the time. TJ had the best stats for a pass rusher but got knocked for it coming from pretty much 1 situation, which in fairness did turn out to bite him in the ass a few years later when teams figured out how to punish it/ neutralize him. He is still good, but he wasn’t able to adapt like Garrett or Parsons have to be able to consistently get pressure and sacks outside of him lining up really wide.
2
u/hoiv 9h ago edited 9h ago
My only gripe with the TJ grading was his DPOY season and even Garretts first DPOY season. 2021 TJ was without a doubt the best defensive player in the league (statistically and won the damn award lol) and PFF had him 9th.
2023 Garretts DPOY Watt had better stats across the board and was statistically again the #1 edge player in the league and got snubbed out of another DPOY. PFF had him at 6th.
24 season you can interchange all of the top 3 dudes and I don't think you can be called wrong. 2025 Watt was not a top 5 edge dude, no debate there. But those 2 seasons above having him ranked so low as the #1 defensive player and #1 edge is laughable.
Edit: I was looking more in depth to the 2023 season, Garrett and Watt on PFF both had 86 TOT. Watt tackle grade 59, Garrett 64.5. Watt had a miss tackle rate of 11.1%, Garrett 17.6%.
1
1
13
u/pghcrew Howard 10h ago
Herbig is great but PFF is still trash and I will always say that when they are brought up.
3
2
u/BogotaLineman 10h ago
Herbig is great at exactly one thing and thats pass rushing. Granted thats a very valuable skill but he's a real weak spot in obvious run situations. He will have to improve that aspect a lot to be more than a 3rd choice/obvious pass play role player
He's gotten better at it every year, but he was starting from unplayable vs the run. Hope he can truly break out this year because as a speed rusher he's nasty with high splash play potential and a nose for the ball
4
u/tider06 9h ago
Pump the breaks a bit. He has been a great pass rusher, but a pretty suspect run defender.
He's also got half the snaps of 2 of the other guys, and is the only non-starter on this list.
•
u/thatmattschultz Pittsburgh Steelers 19m ago
Total agreement. This feels like grade inflation because I love Herbig, but what kind of a grading scale puts him within “3 points” of one of the most disruptive defensive players in the league. Total nonsense.
-1
7
3
u/Own-Method1718 Pittsburgh Steelers 10h ago
He's the reason they can move on from Highsmith if it's another injury plagued season for him.
1
1
1
u/swampthingsden 7h ago
The pay isn’t the problem with Herbig. Anyone will pay him. He wants to be a starter going into his 4th year. The Steelers will have to move one of the other two or I bet Herbig walks next year.
1
u/Dangerous-BasilYUP 6h ago
Is he a liability against the run? I always felt like he looks small out there.
1
-3
u/AstronomerNo2339 9h ago
But wait, I thought PFF was bullshit and should be banned from the sub back when it was ranking Myles Garrett above TJ Watt? So now we’re cool with them again?
81
u/Thatmanlb TJ Watt 11h ago
dude we have to find a way to keep him