The Steelers signed former Charger pass rusher Melvin Ingram yesterday, and I like the move. Pittsburgh has long had one of the league's best pass rushes, leading the league in sacks four years in a row, and needed reinforcements after losing Bud Dupree in free agency. Ingram isn't comparable of late, but he should still have something left.
He's 32 years old -- old, but plenty of pass rushers have put up good numbers at more advanced ages. No sacks in seven games in 2020, but was likely affected by a knee injury (that ultimately landed him on IR). Over his previous five seasons, he had 43 sacks; at least 7 in all of those years.
Since 2015, there are 55 players with at least 30 total sacks. Pittsburgh has four of them. Data from pro-football-reference.com search tools used to compile this table.
TOP PASS RUSHERS, 2015-2020 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Sk | G | Tckl | Ast | TFL | QBHits |
Aaron Donald | 76.5 | 94 | 209 | 100 | 113 | 188 |
Chandler Jones | 73.5 | 84 | 206 | 59 | 79 | 123 |
Khalil Mack | 66.5 | 94 | 278 | 94 | 81 | 117 |
Cameron Jordan | 65.5 | 96 | 226 | 92 | 93 | 134 |
Ryan Kerrigan | 57.5 | 92 | 148 | 58 | 67 | 93 |
Von Miller | 57.0 | 79 | 205 | 59 | 63 | 125 |
Danielle Hunter | 54.5 | 78 | 193 | 83 | 67 | 80 |
Carlos Dunlap | 52.0 | 93 | 192 | 100 | 64 | 141 |
Everson Griffen | 51.0 | 86 | 167 | 77 | 58 | 128 |
Mario Addison | 50.0 | 90 | 125 | 68 | 50 | 81 |
T.J. Watt | 49.5 | 62 | 168 | 62 | 59 | 111 |
Frank Clark | 49.0 | 91 | 140 | 62 | 55 | 101 |
Justin Houston | 49.0 | 75 | 171 | 45 | 60 | 81 |
Calais Campbell | 48.5 | 92 | 235 | 102 | 77 | 128 |
Joey Bosa | 47.5 | 63 | 177 | 63 | 68 | 109 |
Jason Pierre-Paul | 47.0 | 78 | 210 | 77 | 54 | 86 |
DeMarcus Lawrence | 45.5 | 89 | 184 | 107 | 67 | 93 |
Yannick Ngakoue | 45.5 | 78 | 128 | 17 | 49 | 96 |
Za'Darius Smith | 44.5 | 90 | 147 | 79 | 53 | 112 |
J.J. Watt | 44.0 | 64 | 167 | 69 | 69 | 123 |
Geno Atkins | 43.5 | 88 | 124 | 89 | 57 | 97 |
Cameron Heyward | 43.0 | 85 | 196 | 112 | 63 | 100 |
Melvin Ingram | 43.0 | 84 | 213 | 69 | 60 | 97 |
Myles Garrett | 42.5 | 51 | 107 | 45 | 42 | 83 |
Fletcher Cox | 42.0 | 93 | 179 | 88 | 51 | 104 |
Brandon Graham | 42.0 | 95 | 214 | 78 | 77 | 90 |
Olivier Vernon | 42.0 | 79 | 177 | 77 | 62 | 119 |
Shaquil Barrett | 41.5 | 92 | 199 | 67 | 55 | 88 |
Chris Jones | 40.5 | 76 | 120 | 52 | 40 | 100 |
Preston Smith | 40.5 | 96 | 172 | 94 | 47 | 93 |
Bud Dupree | 39.5 | 81 | 169 | 62 | 54 | 65 |
Michael Bennett | 39.0 | 74 | 131 | 61 | 75 | 118 |
DeForest Buckner | 38.0 | 78 | 203 | 118 | 48 | 100 |
Vic Beasley | 37.5 | 88 | 122 | 38 | 37 | 46 |
Robert Quinn | 37.5 | 77 | 107 | 48 | 38 | 68 |
Cameron Wake | 37.5 | 62 | 79 | 35 | 28 | 86 |
Whitney Mercilus | 36.0 | 81 | 144 | 79 | 47 | 76 |
Dee Ford | 35.5 | 63 | 110 | 36 | 41 | 70 |
Bruce Irvin | 35.5 | 78 | 149 | 64 | 47 | 83 |
Ezekiel Ansah | 35.0 | 63 | 118 | 37 | 43 | 81 |
Matt Judon | 34.5 | 76 | 167 | 69 | 54 | 103 |
Julius Peppers | 34.0 | 64 | 75 | 40 | 32 | 56 |
Markus Golden | 33.5 | 78 | 151 | 73 | 45 | 89 |
Stephon Tuitt | 33.5 | 75 | 165 | 64 | 47 | 90 |
Gerald McCoy | 32.5 | 75 | 117 | 63 | 39 | 89 |
Terrell Suggs | 32.5 | 63 | 114 | 44 | 44 | 60 |
Jadeveon Clowney | 32.0 | 79 | 181 | 67 | 72 | 86 |
Jerry Hughes | 31.0 | 95 | 159 | 74 | 51 | 72 |
Denico Autry | 30.5 | 86 | 132 | 57 | 47 | 52 |
Dante Fowler | 30.5 | 77 | 116 | 48 | 38 | 51 |
Akiem Hicks | 30.5 | 84 | 165 | 80 | 51 | 86 |
Clay Matthews | 30.5 | 71 | 152 | 61 | 47 | 72 |
Jurrell Casey | 30.0 | 79 | 175 | 103 | 48 | 73 |
Trey Flowers | 30.0 | 68 | 145 | 92 | 36 | 83 |
Jabaal Sheard | 30.0 | 83 | 152 | 64 | 46 | 64 |
There are some concerns with the Steelers, but ones that seem to jump out are with the offensive line. I don't think anyone should doubt this team will have a top-shelf pass rush again.
--Andy Richardson