In an article I never thought I would have to write, yes Myles Garrett has a massive impact on games for the Cleveland Browns despite being hampered by a bad shoulder. The discourse surrounding the All-Pro pass rusher is getting quite ridiculous, so what better time to clip through his reps against the Los Angeles Chargers for another Browns Film Room?
Despite the inevitability of him breaking the franchise sack record at just the age of 26, we have real people calling Garrett another Courtney Brown. One trick pony, not a good run defender, and easy to scheme around are all phrases that have flown around.
Let’s put the misconceptions to bed as this game against the Chargers was certainly far from a bad game for the All-Pro pass rusher.
How did Garrett grade out against the Chargers?
The notion that Garrett did not have a good game this past Sunday is nothing short of watching the game on a box score. Garrett did not rack up a single sack in this game, and to many, that means he did not make an impact.
Luckily there are smarter people than I who understand the larger context of a football game and know how to track impact. For starters, there is not a single defensive end getting double-teamed as much as Garrett. Despite that, Garrett is still top-five in the pass rush win rate of all defensive ends in the NFL.
On top of that, Garrett leads the NFL in pressures with 20 through only four games. He has played one less game than most others, yet still laps them in pressure. That sure sounds like an impact to me.
Against the Chargers specifically, Garrett racked up an additional five pressures. According to PFF, Garrett graded out in the green across the board. He finished the day with an 80.9 overall defensive grade, 75.9 as a pass rusher, and 70.0 as a run defender on the day. All three marks are quite admirable.
Myles Garrett continues to get to quarterbacks
No, a sixth round rookie did not dominate Garrett. The only situation where that is the case is if the game is still being watched through the box score and not on tape or through an analytical lens. Garrett took the rookie Jamaree Salyer to school all day.
National analyst Jon Ledyard recognized it, I recognized it, and it was obvious on tape. Again, Garrett racked up five pressures on the day for the Browns. However, the term “sacks are a quarterback stat” has never applied more as Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert played like the high-caliber professional he is.
With no push coming from the interior of the defensive line, Herbert could climb the pocket and out of the rushing lanes of Garrett all day long. Knowing the tendencies of the second-level defenders as well, the Chargers schemed up a gameplan largely based on three-step drops and screen passes as well to neutralize the threat of Garrett.
There is not a single pass rusher on the planet that could have gotten home on constant three-step drops, chips, and double-teams Garrett was faced with on Sunday. We go to his tendency to see more than one blocker when attacking quarterbacks next.
The Browns need someone else to get pressure as well
As mentioned earlier, Garrett is getting double-teamed more than any other pass rusher in the NFL. This is large because the guys who play adjacent to Garrett do not even demand the eyes of offensive linemen across from them. This allows offensive coordinators to turn all of their attention onto the All-Pro pass rusher.
Garrett was double-teamed seven times in this game and was charted as playing just 12 true pass sets according to PFF. The Browns are going to need someone else to step up because this pace of double-teams is not going to slow down Garrett.
With Jadeveon Clowney out this Sunday against the Patriots, expect Garrett to once again garner all of the attention up front. Defensive coordinator Joe Woods has to move Garrett around up front. Instead of rushing all but 19 of his snaps out wide, slide Garrett into five-technique, 4i looks, and even 3-technique to throw different looks at opposing offensive coordinators.
Yet regardless of the number of doubles Garrett is faced with, he continues to get put pressure on opposing quarterbacks more than anyone in the NFL.
No, Garrett is not a bad run defender
For starters, using tackles as a metric to evaluate defensive ends is putrid. Under no circumstances do tackles paint even a remotely close image as to what kind of a run defender a defensive end is. Garrett only having seven tackles on the season is a completely irrelevant number.
Instead, we look at the tape and use metrics that paint a much clearer picture. There is no doubt Garrett is known for his ability to bend the edge and harass quarterbacks. This, however, does not mean he is a bad run defender.
Again, in this game, he graded out well in the green with a PFF grade of 70 on the ground, and the tape matches. All-in-all, the Chargers ran the ball to Garrett’s side, or cut back to his side, on 10 rushing attempts on the day. Each of those attempts has been cut above.
Garrett is extremely assignment-sound and does not chase the football. More times than not, teams run away from him while his assignment is to set the edge to maintain backside contain in case of cutdoesyardsin between?backs. Garrett did more of the same against the Chargers.
On top of that, Garrett did not miss a single tackle when a ball carrier was in his grasp. Assignment sound and a consistent tackler, there is not an element of Garrett’s game as a bad run defender. He is not an elite-run defender the way he is as a pass rusher, but he is still well above average in that phase as well.
There was one play in particular that has circulated social media like wildfire where it looks like Garrett let off the gas. However, the all-22 shows without a doubt that Garrett was not in any position to make that play. He would have been if the defensive tackle maintained his assignment instead of chasing the football and swimming inside, colliding with Garrett.
How dare he not make a tackle on a play where the defender is literally 2 yard away with two men inbetween. pic.twitter.com/LxYuke2uUv
— Cory (@realcorykinnan) October 14, 2022
All of this with a clearly lingering shoulder injury
Garrett is far from healthy as he still recovers from his car accident. And while he is still playing at a high level, it is impact ability to present the same level of physicality when it comes to standing up and pulling linemen.
He still did his job when faced with a pulling guard, standing them up to keep the second level clean, but he was not as able to do so without budging from where his feet were dug in. While his level of physicality against the run showed up on tape (and unfortunately it showed up for Bill Belichick as well), Garrett remained incredibly assignment-sound.
All things considered, his high marks and performance on tape are even more impressive given that he was doing it with one arm.
Final Thoughts on Myles Garrett
Fans are sure to take it out on the team harder than non-invested film analysts and national pundits. There is not a single person outside of Cleveland who will call Garrett a poor run defender outside of some biased AFC North rival.
It is perfectly reasonable to hold the superstars and leaders of the team to a higher standard. It is completely understandable to expect more out of the All-Pro talent on the roster. However, within the context of this game, there is not much more Garrett could have done for this defense against the Chargers.
Going up against the New England Patriots this week, he will get his shot at another stiff offensive tackle (he has notoriously torched less limber guys with his immense bend). It looks likely he will get his shot at a rookie quarterback as well.
Not every single quarterback has the ability to navigate pockets and keep their eyes up as Herbert does. However, if the interior continues to struggle to push the pocket inside, quarterbacks are going to continue to step right up out of the track of Garrett.
Playing only 18 snaps in another alignment than outside, the defensive coordinator would be wise to start moving Garrett around so offensive coordinators cannot continue to easily locate and work against Garrett in one spot.
The notion that because the defensive front is struggling then Garrett is not doing enough is just too much to ask of one player. Something has to change up front, but Garrett is far from even a remote issue for the Cleveland Browns.
