Devin White, Roquan Smith, and 2020 Defeats

Our look back at 2020 data continues today with a look at defeats, one of our favorite stats for defensive players. Many of the NFL's leaders in this statistic last season have been the best at their positions for many years. Once again, Aaron Donald was first among interior linemen, T.J. Watt was tops among edge rushers, and Jamal Adams and Budda Baker led all safeties. Even at cornerback, Pittsburgh's Mike Hilton shined once more despite starting less than half the season. At linebacker, however, a pair of youngsters broke out to tie for the lead at the position—indeed, the lead among all players.

We have lots of statistics to measure quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, even kickers, but our numbers for individual defensive players are a lot more limited. Defeats are one way to account for defenders who make frequent appearances on highlight reels. As a reminder, a defender is credited with a defeat any time he makes one of the following plays:

• A tackle that results in a loss of yardage, including sacks.
• Any play that results in a turnover, including tipped passes which are then intercepted.
• Any tackle or tipped pass that leads to a stop on third or fourth down.

Your top players in defeats in 2020 were linebackers Roquan Smith of Chicago and Devin White of Tampa Bay, who were tied with 33 defeats apiece.

Let's get into what Smith and White did to finish tied for first. Smith's 33 defeats break down like so:

• 10 stuffs on running plays;
• six tackles for a loss on completions;
• four sacks;
• 11 other tackles or tipped passes that forced stops on third and fourth downs;
• and two interceptions.

And here's White's path to 33:

• eight sacks (including one with a forced fumble, though that play counts just once);
• eight tackles for a loss on running plays;
• four tackles for a loss on completed passes;
• 12 other tackles that resulted in third-/fourth-down stops;
• and one fumble recovery after a completed pass.

It was a breakout performance for both players as they fulfilled their draft potential. Smith was the eighth overall draft pick in 2018, White the fifth overall pick in 2019, but neither had ever produced more than 18 defeats in a season. If you're looking for a tiebreaker between the two, postseason performance gives White the edge—he missed the wild-card win over Washington, but racked up five more defeats in Tampa Bay's three other playoff wins, including interceptions of both Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes. Smith, meanwhile, missed Chicago's only playoff game, the wild-card loss to New Orleans.

While Smith's defeats were somewhat balanced between run and pass, most of White's came on passing plays. He amassed 23 defeats against the pass (including 10 tackles on third-/fourth-down completions that gained yards but came up short of the sticks), four more than any other defender in the league. Smith was one of five defenders with 14 defeats against the run; they all finished in second place behind Dallas edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence, who had 15. Lawrence is another player with a history of ranking highly in this category—he had 30 total defeats in 2018, including 16 against the run.

Interior Linemen

Nothing new here—it's Aaron Donald's world and everyone else is playing catch-up. Donald led all interior linemen with 24 defeats, four more than anyone else, but that was actually a down year for him. In seven NFL seasons, he has only failed to hit 24 defeats one time: in 2017, when he missed two games and finished with "only" 19.

Donald was especially dominant against the pass, where he had 17 defeats, five more than any other interior lineman. That includes 15 sack plays (counting each half-sack as a full defeat), an interception of Nick Mullens, and a third-down stop on a completed pass against the Jets. Atlanta's Grady Jarrett led all interior linemen with 13 defeats against the run. That includes three in one game against Carolina in Week 8.

Edge Rushers

Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt led all defenders with 36 defeats in 2019. He didn't have quite that many in 2020, but he still finished first among edge rushers with 31.

Watt led the league with 15.0 sacks, but he was more than just a pass-rusher. He was among the pack of defenders tied for second with 14 defeats against the run, joining Roquan Smith as the only defenders with 14 defeats against both run and pass.

DeMarcus Lawrence, as mentioned, led all players with 15 run defeats. The edge rusher with the most pass defeats was Arizona's Haason Reddick, now a member of the Carolina Panthers. Clearly, Reddick impressed the Panthers when he destroyed the Giants in Week 14, sacking Daniel Jones and Colt McCoy five times and forcing three fumbles. 

Linebackers

Since we already have discussed the leaders here, Devin White and Roquan Smith, let's focus on the third-place linebacker instead. That's right, it's time for our annual glorification of Tampa Bay's Lavonte David.

David has now finished among the top five defenders in total defeats eight times in the past nine years. How rare is that kind of dominance? Consider that David's quarterback, Tom Brady, has finished in the top five in touchdown passes only five times in the same timespan. Still, David had not made the All-Pro team since 2013, and the Pro Bowl since 2015. He finally got a chance to shine in the playoffs last year, adding two more defeats (a sack against Washington, a third-down pass defensed against Kansas City) on his way to a Super Bowl ring.

Smith was one of two linebackers with 14 run defeats; the other was Blake Martinez, who shined in his first year with the Giants. Half of those were the clean-up variety where runners gained positive yardage but failed to pick up a conversion on third or fourth down. That includes four tackles on third-and-14 or longer.

Safeties

This is the third year in a row that Jamal Adams and Budda Baker have been the top two safeties in this category. Baker was first overall in 2019, while Adams was first in both 2018 and last season.

Adams is best known for his 9.5 sacks last year, an all-time record for defensive backs. He had five other defeats on completed passes, and also tipped a pass away on third downs; his 16 pass defeats were also most at the postion. His 11 run defeats included nine stuffs and one fumble recovery. Oh, and he did all that in only 12 games.

Baker, meanwhile, did more of his damage as a run-stuffer, leading all defensive backs with 14 run defeats. He was a tremendous cleanup man, with 10 defeats on runs or completions that gained positive yardage but resulted in third- or fourth-down stops. Only eight other players hit double-digits in that category; Jon Bostic of the Washington Football Team led all players with 14.

Expect to see these two players at the top of this leaderboard for years to come. Adams' 27 defeats tied a career high, but he has had at least 21 in each of his four pro seasons. Baker is also entering his fourth season, and though he "only" had 14 defeats as a rookie, he has had at least 24 in each of the last three seasons.

Cornerbacks

So … defeats are a weird way to measure cornerbacks. Usually (not always!), your top cover guys—your Jalen Ramseys, Jaire Alexanders, Stephon Gilmores, etc.—rarely have the ball thrown their way, so the opportunities to rack up defeats aren't there. Meanwhile, the worst corners get more opportunities but can't deliver (or they get benched), which is why they are the worst corners. It's often the guys in the middle who make most of the defeats.

Pittsburgh's Mike Hilton is a perfect example. He led all corners with 22 defeats in 2020; he also had 22 in 2017, when he finished second to Ramsey (then with Jacksonville). He has finished among the top 10 corners in defeats in each of the last four years, but he has never made more than eight starts in a season. He has only seen enough targets to qualify for our cornerback coverage tables one time. But somehow he ranks high in this category year-in and year-out.

How does a part-time player lead any position in any category? Let's look at Hilton's defeats in 2020:

• Four tackles for a loss (or no gain) on completions;
• three sacks;
• two run stuffs;
• nine other tackles or tipped passes that forced third-/fourth-down stops;
• three interceptions;
• and one forced fumble on a completed pass.

That's a lot of tackles for loss for any player, let alone a defensive back. That's why Hilton has finished second, third, first, and first in stop rate at his position over the last four seasons.

Obviously, a lot of this is scheme-based. Take a look at this highlight reel (and its very NSFW music) on YouTube. In a lot of these plays, Hilton isn't playing outside corner, or even slot corner—he's playing like the world's smallest weakside linebacker, blitzing off the edge as often as he's dropping back in coverage. Hilton left Pittsburgh for Cincinnati in free agency; we'll see if he can be as effective in Lou Anarumo's scheme as he was in Keith Butler's.

Hilton was not, however, the top cornerback in run defeats. That honor goes to Buffalo's Taron Johnson, another nickelback. The average target against Johnson came only 7.8 yards downfield, shortest of any corner with at least 50 targets. Since he was always so close to the line of scrimmage, it's little surprise he managed a half-dozen defeats (five stuffs, one forced fumble) against the run in 2020.