The NFL Has A New Way To Measure The Explosiveness Of Pass Rushers

Nov 11, 2021

Defensive ends and outside linebackers tasked with harassing the opposing quarterback are among the most physically imposing players in the NFL. Weighing 260 pounds on average, the current crop of NFL edge rushers is full of athletic marvels. Cleveland Browns defensive end and former first overall pick Myles Garrett has the physique of a pro wrestler, yet he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.64 seconds and has topped 20 mph on the gridiron.

While it’s not news that NFL athletes are big and fast, our ability to quantify their athleticism has improved immensely in recent years. And one of the most promising new metrics for judging pass rushers is the evocatively named “NGS Get Off” tracked by the NFL’s Next Gen Stats group.

Roughly analogous to timing a sprinter’s first two steps out of a block start, NGS Get Off measures the average time it takes for a defensive player to get past the line of scrimmage after the snap of the ball. The metric is a direct measure of quick-twitch athletic ability at a position for which such quickness is at a premium, and it allows us to ask a number of interesting questions about pass rush performance. Once a player makes it to the NFL and has met the athletic threshold to compete at the highest level, does being faster off the line tend to lead to more sacks, pressures and hits on the quarterback? Or do other factors like strength and technique start to dominate? And perhaps most importantly for evaluators and forecasters, is NGS Get Off stable? Do players who are quick or slow off the line one year tend to perform similarly the following season?

To answer these questions, we took season-level data from 2017 through Week 9 of the 2021 season¹ and tested the how well quickness off the line as captured by NGS Get Off correlates with ESPN’s Pass Rush Wins, pressures, quarterback hits and, finally, sacks. If being quick off the line and getting an extra half-step on an offensive tackle is beneficial — and since lower numbers are better — we’d expect to see a negative correlation between the metric and measures of rushing production. And that’s what we find.

Being quick off the ball leads to pass rush production

Correlation of the NGS Get Off metric with select pass rush productivity metrics, 2017-2021 seasons

Stat	Correlation
Pass rush wins	-0.51
QB Pressures	-0.45
QB hits	-0.35
Sacks	-0.26

The quicker a pass rusher is at getting across the line of scrimmage after the ball is snapped, the more good things tend to happen for a defense. Pass Rush Wins and quarterback pressures show the highest correlation with NGS Get Off, followed by QB hits and sacks. This makes intuitive sense. While sacking the opposing quarterback is the most valuable thing a pass rusher can do, sacks are fairly rare. QB pressures and hits occur more often and so are less influenced by randomness. As a result, players with low NGS Get Off times tend to see the greatest effect in their secondary, non-sack numbers.

Football metrics that describe good performance but fail to capture a repeatable skill are interesting curiosities but are of limited use for decision makers and analysts. The best metrics not only explain what already happened on the field, but also help us predict what might occur in the future. NGS Get Off is one of those rare stats. Its stability is high for a football metric,² indicating that pass rushers tend to carry their NGS Get Off times with them from season to season.

Given the metric’s stability, it’s worth looking at where the league’s edge rushers stand at the season’s halfway point. Teams with fast defensive ends but poor sack totals — like the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints³ — might have reason to hope for more sacks down the stretch.

Who are the NFL’s fastest edge rushers?

Pass rushers by average number of seconds from snap to crossing the line of scrimmage, among those with at least 50 pass rush snaps from the edge this season, through Week 9 of the 2021 season

player▲▼	Pos▲▼	Team▲▼	Pass Rush Snaps▲▼	Avg. get off time▲▼
Yannick Ngakoue	DL	LV	217	0.73
A.J. Epenesa	DL	BUF	105	0.75
Myles Garrett	DL	CLE	222	0.76
Maxx Crosby	DL	LV	234	0.76
Payton Turner	DL	NO	92	0.76
Ola Adeniyi	LB	TEN	80	0.78
Micah Parsons	LB	DAL	80	0.78
Dee Ford	DL	SF	74	0.79
Bryce Huff	DL	NYJ	143	0.79
Jerry Hughes	DL	BUF	159	0.79
Nick Bosa	DL	SF	193	0.80
Derek Barnett	DL	PHI	205	0.80
Cameron Jordan	DL	NO	244	0.81
Trey Hendrickson	DL	CIN	235	0.81
Trevis Gipson	LB	CHI	95	0.81
T.J. Watt	LB	PIT	187	0.82
Josh Sweat	DL	PHI	171	0.82
Emmanuel Ogbah	DL	MIA	221	0.82
Shaquil Barrett	LB	TB	224	0.82
Leonard Floyd	LB	LA	229	0.82
Brian Burns	DL	CAR	219	0.83
Robert Quinn	LB	CHI	180	0.83
Justin Houston	LB	BAL	167	0.83
Kemoko Turay	DL	IND	73	0.83
Rashan Gary	LB	GB	212	0.84
Chase Young	DL	WAS	244	0.84
Dante Fowler Jr.	DL	ATL	109	0.84
Wyatt Ray	DL	CIN	64	0.84
Takkarist McKinley	DL	CLE	128	0.84
Chris Jones	DL	KC	83	0.84
Haason Reddick	LB	CAR	203	0.84
Mario Addison	DL	BUF	121	0.85
Tim Ward	DL	NYJ	54	0.85
Jaelan Phillips	LB	MIA	192	0.85
Alex Highsmith	LB	PIT	161	0.85
Benson Mayowa	DL	SEA	73	0.85
Harold Landry	LB	TEN	261	0.85
Uchenna Nwosu	LB	LAC	120	0.85
Frank Clark	DL	KC	147	0.85
Clelin Ferrell	DL	LV	59	0.85
Ryan Kerrigan	DL	PHI	91	0.85
Terrell Lewis	LB	LA	169	0.85
Carl Nassib	DL	LV	79	0.86
Melvin Ingram	LB	PIT	119	0.86
Jonathon Cooper	LB	DEN	122	0.86
Jake Martin	DL	HOU	166	0.86
Darrell Taylor	DL	SEA	118	0.86
Josh Uche	LB	NE	102	0.86
Oshane Ximines	LB	NYG	81	0.86
Carlos Dunlap	DL	SEA	163	0.87
Joey Bosa	DL	LAC	174	0.87
Everson Griffen	DL	MIN	163	0.87
Cameron Sample	DL	CIN	84	0.87
Von Miller	LB	LA	170	0.87
Randy Gregory	DL	DAL	145	0.87
Joe Tryon-Shoyinka	LB	TB	94	0.88
Dorance Armstrong	DL	DAL	57	0.88
Markus Golden	LB	ARI	203	0.88
Jadeveon Clowney	DL	CLE	193	0.88
Kerry Hyder	DL	SEA	50	0.88
Samson Ebukam	DL	SF	90	0.88
Shaq Lawson	DL	NYJ	153	0.89
Jonathan Greenard	DL	HOU	119	0.89
Montez Sweat	DL	WAS	219	0.89
Whitney Mercilus	DL	GB	138	0.89
Justin Hollins	LB	LA	73	0.90
Aaron Donald	DL	LA	81	0.90
Khalil Mack	LB	CHI	142	0.90
Azeez Ojulari	LB	NYG	207	0.90
Bud Dupree	LB	TEN	157	0.90
Preston Smith	LB	GB	160	0.90
Chandler Jones	LB	ARI	197	0.91
Malik Reed	LB	DEN	201	0.91
Devon Kennard	LB	ARI	54	0.91
Alton Robinson	LB	SEA	65	0.92
Tanoh Kpassagnon	DL	NO	65	0.92
Odafe Oweh	LB	BAL	179	0.92
Jeremiah Attaochu	LB	CHI	57	0.92
Carl Granderson	DL	NO	99	0.92
Kwity Paye	DL	IND	157	0.92
Romeo Okwara	LB	DET	75	0.93
Dawuane Smoot	DL	JAX	166	0.93
Tyus Bowser	LB	BAL	121	0.93
Kyler Fackrell	LB	LAC	89	0.93
Quincy Roche	LB	NYG	78	0.93
Obo Okoronkwo	LB	LA	80	0.93
Matt Judon	LB	NE	204	0.94
Andrew Van Ginkel	LB	MIA	118	0.94
Jordan Jenkins	DL	HOU	94	0.94
K’Lavon Chaisson	LB	JAX	69	0.94
James Smith-Williams	DL	WAS	85	0.94
Deatrich Wise	DL	NE	92	0.95
Greg Rousseau	DL	BUF	119	0.95
Julian Okwara	LB	DET	51	0.95
Adetokunbo Ogundeji	LB	ATL	109	0.95
Sam Hubbard	DL	CIN	252	0.95
Lorenzo Carter	LB	NYG	134	0.95
Alex Okafor	DL	KC	120	0.95
Jason Pierre-Paul	LB	TB	157	0.95
Charles Harris	LB	DET	136	0.95
Rasheem Green	DL	SEA	67	0.96
Jonathan Garvin	LB	GB	117	0.96
John Franklin-Myers	DL	NYJ	181	0.96
Arden Key	DL	SF	62	0.96
Al-Quadin Muhammad	DL	IND	210	0.97
Tarell Basham	DL	DAL	139	0.97
Arik Armstead	DL	SF	72	0.97
Charles Omenihu	DL	SF	81	0.98
Stephen Weatherly	DL	DEN	74	0.98
Michael Danna	DL	KC	162	0.99
Marcus Davenport	DL	NO	86	0.99
Pernell McPhee	LB	BAL	53	0.99
Danielle Hunter	DL	MIN	206	1.00
Tyquan Lewis	DL	IND	92	1.02
Denico Autry	DL	TEN	148	1.02
Steven Means	LB	ATL	147	1.02
Joe Jackson	DL	CLE	53	1.03
D.J. Wonnum	DL	MIN	136	1.03
Josh Allen	LB	JAX	197	1.03
Trey Flowers	LB	DET	93	1.04
Leonard Williams	DL	NYG	64	1.08
Chauncey Golston	DL	DAL	75	1.08

Which teams have the quickest rushers? The Las Vegas Raiders have the luxury of trotting out two of the fastest edge rushers in the league after their offseason acquisition of Yannick Ngakoue and the ascension of 2019 fourth-round pick Maxx Crosby. And Buffalo’s league-leading defense appears legit: The Bills are anchored by the league’s second-fastest duo off the ball in A.J. Epenesa and Jerry Hughes. Meanwhile, the Chargers’ 19th-ranked duo of Uchenna Nwosu and Joey Bosa currently leads the NFL in sacks with 28 and may be due for some regression.

Las Vegas has the fastest duo off the edge

Fastest pass rushing duos per NFL team by average number of seconds from snap to crossing the line of scrimmage, through Week 9 of the 2021 season

Rank	Team	Duo	Avg. Get Off Time
1	LV	Yannick Ngakoue, Maxx Crosby	0.75
2	BUF	A.J. Epenesa, Jerry Hughes	0.77
3	NO	Payton Turner, Cameron Jordan	0.79
4	SF	Dee Ford, Nick Bosa	0.79
5	CLE	Myles Garrett, Takkarist McKinley	0.80
6	PHI	Derek Barnett, Josh Sweat	0.81
7	TEN	Ola Adeniyi, Harold Landry	0.81
8	NYJ	Bryce Huff, Tim Ward	0.82
9	CHI	Trevis Gipson, Robert Quinn	0.82
10	CIN	Trey Hendrickson, Wyatt Ray	0.83
11	DAL	Micah Parsons, Randy Gregory	0.83
12	PIT	T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith	0.83
13	MIA	Emmanuel Ogbah, Jaelan Phillips	0.83
14	CAR	Brian Burns, Haason Reddick	0.84
15	LA	Leonard Floyd, Terrell Lewis	0.84
16	TB	Shaquil Barrett, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka	0.85
17	KC	Chris Jones, Frank Clark	0.85
18	SEA	Benson Mayowa, Darrell Taylor	0.85
19	LAC	Uchenna Nwosu, Joey Bosa	0.86
20	GB	Rashan Gary, Whitney Mercilus	0.86
21	WAS	Chase Young, Montez Sweat	0.86
22	HOU	Jake Martin, Jonathan Greenard	0.87
23	BAL	Justin Houston, Odafe Oweh	0.88
24	IND	Kemoko Turay, Kwity Paye	0.88
25	NYG	Oshane Ximines, Azeez Ojulari	0.88
26	DEN	Jonathon Cooper, Malik Reed	0.88
27	ARI	Chandler Jones, Markus Golden	0.89
28	ATL	Dante Fowler Jr., Adetokunbo Ogundeji	0.89
29	NE	Josh Uche, Matt Judon	0.90
30	JAX	Dawuane Smoot, K’Lavon Chaisson	0.93
31	MIN	Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter	0.93
32	DET	Romeo Okwara, Julian Okwara	0.94

Sunday’s game between the New Orleans Saints and the Tennessee Titans pits Cam Jordan and Payton Turner against Ola Adeniyi and Harold Landry in what could be a sack-filled affair. And the Detroit Lions’ edge rush doesn’t appear to offer much hope for a team hungry for its first win of the season: The two are the slowest duo off the snap in the NFL and have hit the opposing quarterback just 27 times this season, also worst in the league.

Speed still matters in the NFL. For defensive pass rushers, it can be the difference between hurrying a quarterback into a mistake or watching him celebrate a touchdown.

Check out our latest NFL predictions.

Watch: https://abcnews.go.com/fivethirtyeight/video/makes-patrick-mahomes-great-fivethirtyeight-75237605

Tags: Edge Defenders Next Gen Stats NFL NFL Defense NGS Get Off Pass Rush Passing Defense