Defensive Impact Plays Over Expected: Measuring the true disruption of NFL defenders

• Who else but Aidan Hutchinson? Hutchinson leads the league in defensive impact plays over expected through five weeks.

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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

It’s never too early to start preparing for next season, and for PFF, that means looking at ways to improve PFF Premium Stats. One way we’re looking to enhance the experience is by introducing more data into the mix.

A couple of weeks ago, we unveiled “Defensive Impact Plays Over Expected,” which evaluates players based on their position and snap count, measuring how often they are expected to make impact plays and comparing it to their actual production.

Here is how the league's defenders have fared through five weeks of action.

What is Defensive Impact Plays Over Expected?

We evaluate each player based on their position and the number of snaps they play to determine how often they are expected to make an impact play. A positive number indicates they're exceeding expectations, while a negative number suggests they're falling short.

Some players are in roles designed to generate impact plays, while others do more of the foundational work to support these plays, so the stat needs context rather than being seen as strictly good or bad.

A defensive impact play includes pressures, defensive stops, batted passes, forced incompletions or interceptions.

Defensive Impact Plays Over Expected Through Week 5 (min. 100 snaps)