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St. Louis Rams: Chris Long is one of the Elite NFL Pass Rushers

By Douglas M

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Chris Long had another great season in 2011. His 13 sacks proved once again that he's one of the top defensive ends in the NFL. He also led the "QB Hurries" parade for the second year straight with 58. ProFootballFocus put out another in a long line of statistical proofs that shows accountants have other uses. The stat-nicks over at PFF came up with a formula in 2009 they named "Pass Rushing Productivity". It measures not only actual QB sacks, but also QB hits and hurries to discern the overall effectiveness of a defensive player.

Here's their magic formula for success:

Sacks + 0.75(Hits + Hurries)/ Number of Pass Rushing Attempts (at least 100 attempts) = PRP

After the jump, you'll see that Chris Long ranked sixth in the NFL. He is in some impressive company, in the rarified air of elite NFL defensive ends and outside linebackers, whose job it is to terrorize NFL quarterbacks.

Chart and Stats courtesy of ProFootballFocus

Rank Name Team Pass Rush Snaps Sk Ht Hu PRP
1 Aldon Smith SF 337 15 13 36 15.36
2 Trent Cole PHI 355 11 12 44 14.93
3 Antwan Barnes SD 266 11 5 29 13.72
4 Jason Babin PHI 401 18 12 37 13.65
5 James Harrison PIT 235 8 9 23 13.62
6 Chris Long SL 483 13 12 58 13.56
7 Carlos Dunlap CIN 278 5 13 29 13.13
8 DeMarcus Ware DAL 450 20 8 43 12.94
9 Cameron Wake MIA 488 9 20 52 12.91
10 John Abraham ATL 343 10 8 36 12.54
11 Brian Orakpo WAS 383 10 6 43 12.21
12 Von Miller DEN 389 12 19 28 12.15
13 Mark Anderson NE 310 12 6 27 11.85
14 Clay Matthews GB 453 6 21 39 11.26
15 Osi Umenyiora NYG 241 9 4 20 11.20
16 Tamba Hali KC 435 11 9 41 11.15
17 Kamerion Wimbley OAK 430 5 15 39 10.58
18 Chris Clemons SEA 501 12 9 45 10.48
19 Julius Peppers CHI 537 12 5 53 10.34
20 Ryan Kerrigan WAS 439 9 12 36 10.25

I hope Robert Quinn finds his way into this group in 2012. His 2011 draft day colleague, Aldon Smith, absolutely dominated as a rookie.

Here's a look at the bottom feeders in the same statistical group:

Chart and Stats courtesy of ProFootballFocus

Rank Name Team Pass Rush Snaps Sk Ht Hu PRP
56 Erik Walden GB 402 3 13 22 7.28
57 Brooks Reed HST 382 6 6 23 7.26
58 Calvin Pace NYJ 361 4 7 22 7.13
59 Justin Tuck NYG 387 6 6 21 6.78
60 Red Bryant SEA 310 2 4 21 6.69
61 Will Smith NO 505 7 5 30 6.58
62 Kroy Biermann ATL 320 3 8 16 6.56
63 Ray Edwards ATL 404 4 5 24 6.37
64 Robert Ayers DEN 348 4 4 20 6.32
65 Israel Idonije CHI 570 5 8 32 6.14
66 Jonathan Fanene CIN 250 4 5 10 6.10
67 Cameron Jordan NO 301 1 5 18 6.06
68 Robert Geathers CIN 256 4 3 12 5.96
69 Derrick Morgan TEN 367 3 6 19 5.93
70 Michael D. Johnson CIN 402 7 6 15 5.66
71 Dave Ball TEN 389 4 3 17 4.88
72 Spencer Johnson BUF 215 1 1 11 4.65
73 Dave Tollefson NYG 297 5 2 9 4.46
74 Jason D. Jones TEN 374 3 4 14 4.41
75 Jayme Mitchell CLV 351 3 6 5 3.21

If you're curious about how defensive tackles did using the same criteria, go here.

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