clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Von Miller has highest pass rush productivity in NFL per Pro Football Focus

The stats aren’t always there, but the tape never lies. Von Miller is the most ferocious pass rusher in the NFL.

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

NFL: Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Von Miller has seven sacks on the season, which ranks ninth in the NFL for the year. What stats like sacks don’t do is give people a clear picture of how well the player is actually playing or how disruptive that player is in the backfield.

For that kind of analysis, we must turn to Pro Football Focus. Their analysts see a player who is getting double teamed, triple, teamed, chipped, chopped, held and just about any other way the opposing team do to slow him down.

And they’re not succeeding.

PFF’s pass rush productivity is a metric for measuring pressure created on a per snap basis. It is weighted toward sacks, but includes all of the other ways a pass rusher can move a quarterback of their spot or hurry them into their progressions.

At 16.1, only The Miami Dolphins Cameron Wake is close at 16.0. No other player is above 14.8 in PFF’s pass rush productivity metric.

The sacks may not be up there in the double digits yet, but Miller is wrecking havoc in the backfield all the same. Those sacks will start piling up at the rate he is going.