Are J.J. Watt and other elite pass rushers overrated in the NFL? The facts say yes

How could elite pass rushers be overrated? Here’s how.

Most people belief that pass rushers, whether DE or OLB, are one of the most important positions on a football team. Some people believe that an elite pass rusher can have as big, or almost as big, of an impact on an NFL game as a great quarterback can. It’s often thought that the best teams in the NFL feature the best pass rushers. However, the facts starkly suggest otherwise as Justin Houston and J.J. Watt have both been on their couches for weeks.

Both Houston and Watt impressively hit the 20-sack plateau in 2014, but the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans didn’t make the playoffs. The NFL’s top-5 pass rushers in 2014, as far as sacks recorded, were Elivs Dumervil (17 sacks), Connor Barwin (14.5), and Mario Williams (14.5). Between those five players (including Houston and Watt) only Dumervil’s Ravens made the playoffs.

Those were the five elite pass rushers of the 2014 NFL season. Although there is no correlation between their great play and their team’s ultimate success. That begged the question, “How much of an impact do elite pass rushers really have on an NFL team’s success?”

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Fact #1:

As stated above, only one of the NFL’s top five sack leaders led their teams to the playoffs.

So, how much of an impact do elite pass rushers have on their teams? Clearly not as much as some people like to think. Whereas nearly every NFL team with a quarterback that is widely referred to as ‘elite’ did make the playoffs.

Fact #2:

Five pass rushers have recorded at least two sacks in the playoffs this year and none of those five player’s teams made it to a Conference Championship game.

Even the playoff teams with the more elite pass rushers have gone home earlier. The four teams that made it to Championship Sunday do not feature a single pass rusher that has recorded two sacks in the playoffs yet. Further evidence that dominant pass rushers do not directly equate to winning in the NFL. Oddly enough, it seems the opposite is true.

The trend I’m noticing is that teams with multiple above-average pass rushers win with much more consistency than teams with one elite pass rusher.

Fact #3:

The league’s most dominant pass rusher, and defensive player, couldn’t lead his team to the playoffs.

The Texans’ Watt is the undisputed king of the NFL, on the defensive side of the ball that is. Yet, even his incredible impact couldn’t raise the Texans to the postseason. Would the Texans be worse without him? Certainly! But if the Texans added Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady would it become a playoff team? I’m inclined to say yes, of course.

So do elite pass rushers really equal success in the NFL? Or is one player, even so great as one of 2014’s five elite pass rushers, not enough to truly make a huge difference in today’s NFL.

Fact #4:

None of the for teams playing on Conference Championship Sunday boast an ‘elite’ pass rusher.

As far as 2014 statistics are concerned, the Patriots, Seahawks, Packers, and Colts do not feature as single elite pass rusher. That isn’t to say they’re bad pass rushing teams — that isn’t the case. These teams can get the quarterback, but they feature multiple players that can get to the quarterback and don’t rely on just one elite player.

Look at the top pass rushers of the last four teams standing. The Packers’ Clay Matthews was 12th in the NFL in sacks in 2014. The Patriots’ Rob Ninkovich was 26th in the NFL in sacks in 2014. The Seahawks’ Michael Bennett was 36th in the NFL in sacks in 2014. The Colts’ Jonathan Newsome was 40th in the NFL in sacks in 2014. None of these pass rushers would be considered ‘elite’ pass rushers if just this years’ statistics were referenced. Matthews is the possible exception to this, although he hasn’t been lining up as a pure rusher in 2014 as much as he used to.

The top four teams in the NFL didn’t have a single pass rusher ranked in the top 10 in sacks this year and only one (Matthews) ranked inside the top 25.

What else do these four teams have in common? Great quarterback play.

Quarterbacks don’t just get more media attention because it’s the flashy position, it’s because their impact on games is tremendous. Look at the quarterbacks of the last four teams standing. Brady, Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and Andrew Luck. All four can either be considered elite or on the verge of elite at the quarterback position. It seems as though quality quarterbacks are still much more valuable than elite pass rushers.

These facts cannot be disputed that 2014’s elite pass rushers are in every way overrated, as far as their overall impact on their teams wining football games is concerned. That is, if we all agree that winning games, going to the playoffs, and winning the Super Bowl is the main goal of every NFL team, how can these elite players not be overrated?

I’m a huge Watt fan, don’t get me wrong, but perhaps investing in elite pass rushers isn’t as paramount to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy as most people believe.