Stephon Tuitt finally saw the results of his hard work turn into major results for his stats.
After only finishing with as high as 6.5 sacks in any of his first six seasons, Tuitt totaled 11 sacks in 2020, eight-most in the NFL, and third-most among interior defensive linemen behind Aaron Donald and Leonard Williams. How he did that poses a serious threat to continue that trend in the coming seasons.
Tuitt is a behemoth lineman at 6-foot-6, 303 lbs. His athleticism allows him to not only explode off the snap to beat offensive linemen to the punch, but also using various countermoves to win leverage in different situations. That forces his opponents to often sellout their position to match his strength, giving him the opportunity to maximize exploiting that opportunity with other hand techniques.
Here's Tuitt taking on J.C. Tretter on a run where Tuitt established his position by keeping his hands inside of Tretter's, then overpowering him to maintain control of his gap. His efforts force Nick Chubb to cutback into the rest of the Steelers' defense:
Tuitt's persistence at the point of attack can wear down linemen throughout the game.
But as opponents work to keep up with Tuitt's strength and persistence, Tuitt continues to work different hand techniques to win against the run and put pressure on the quarterback.
It may have took time for Tuitt to get to where he's at, but it also took Cam Heyward time to get to his All-Pro level as well. Heyward also took seven seasons to record double-digit sacks like he did in 2017 when he first made the AP's First Team All-Pro. At 27, Tuitt was a year younger than Heyward when he accomplished that feat.
Here's an example where Tuitt used that leverage against the Texans to jump into A-gap and sack Deshaun Watson:
Pressure up the middle is much more difficult to dodge for quarterbacks because of how quickly it compromises the pocket.
That's what makes Tuitt so dangerous an asset for the Steelers' defense and a major concern offensive lines have to prepare to face. In addition to his sack totals, Pro Football Focus had Tuitt's 45 quarterback pressures the second-most of all interior defensive linemen in 2020, only behind Donald's 69. Heyward had the third-most with 43.
Watch how Tuitt gets this sack on Phillip Rivers from standing up. He combines his swim move with excellent footwork to bait his man into giving up his inside gap, where Tuitt quickly explodes through to sack Rivers:
That swim move is a patented part of Tuitt's game.
He's used it as a pure finesse move while not being engaged like he did to sack Rivers, while also using it as he's engaged with linemen. The ability to use his swim move in both ways forces offensive linemen to consider different approaches on how to stop him.
The swim move is a preferred technique for taller defensive linemen like Tuitt who can use their long arms to first establish position at the line with hand-fighting, then to quickly use one of the arms to swim over their man to get a clear path to the quarterback.
Watch how Tuitt used the swim move to beat Patrick Mekari in A-gap. It's different from his sack on Rivers because Tuitt engaged Mekari and pushed him back into the pocket before swimming over his head and sacking Lamar Jackson:
That's pretty difficult to stop for an entire game.
And that gets even more difficult when offensive lines have to also prepare for Heyward, T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree or Alex Highsmith coming off the edge. This will get Tuitt more one-on-one opportunities this season, or force opponents to give those opportunities to another impressive pass rusher for the Steelers.
The development of a consistent pass rush move has made Tuitt even more difficult to stop than his previous seasons. His next seasons could see him master more moves as he works to maximize his talents in his prime.
