Research: DeShon Elliott Earned His Pay Elevate

Days ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers gave starting strong safety DeShon Elliott a contract extension. Today, I wanted to examine and provide some reasons why he earned his substantial pay raise through his performance in 2024, his first season with Pittsburgh.

The primary reason is being a sound tackler last season. Per Pro Football Focus (PFF), where I pulled all the stats for this article, Elliott ranked 45th in total snaps with 824. Despite this, he tied for tenth in solo tackles (83) and tied for seventh in assisted tackles (26) among players with 800 snaps (46 qualifiers).

So, he hit well above his weight (pun intended) when looking at volume compared to production. He was also top ten in several other stats at the position, including fumble recoveries (first), forced fumbles (T-second), tackles for loss (T-sixth), and stops, which are unsuccessful plays for the offense (T-tenth).

Where Elliott also shined extremely bright in 2024 was avoiding missed tackles. Here’s a visual of the 46 qualifiers’ total missed tackle rates, along with missed run tackle rates:

Elliott lands on the ideal upper right of the chart, impressively. He posted an elite 1.8-percent in both total and run missed tackle rates, comfortably the best at the position in 2024. For more context, 4.3-percent was the second-best total missed tackle rate, which Elliott eclipsed by 2.5-percent. Quite an impressive feat and presence he brought to the Black and Gold, no doubt.

On the flip side, we see this was not his counterpart’s forte in 2024. Minkah Fitzpatrick had an 8.8 total missed tackle rate, which ranked respectively at 13th. However, the most significant difference among the backend teammates was the run missed tackle rate, where Fitzpatrick posted a 14.3 missed tackle rate (T-25th).

This isn’t to say that Fitzpatrick is a poor tackler, considering his 2.9-percent run missed tackle rate in 2023, which would have ranked first in a similar study of that season. Elliott posted a top ten 5.7 missed tackle rate that year, pointing to Elliott demonstrating more recent tackling consistency, particularly against the run.

Shifting back to the 2024 season, let’s shed more light on Elliott’s great run defense:

On the 49th-ranked run defense snaps among safeties, DeShon Elliott had an 87.8 run defense grade that ranked fifth at the position, along with a 5.7 stop rate (sixth). Comparatively, Fitzpatrick had a 74.3 grade (20th) and 1.3 stop rate (tied for third-worst).

Fitzpatrick is known much more for his coverage play prowling deep, which isn’t Elliott’s strong suit. This highlights how the pairing, which could be together for the foreseeable future, complements each other well.

As you probably guessed, DeShon Elliott’s fourth-ranked run defense grade featured several stats that ranked in the top ten. Along with his top-ranked run missed tackle rate covered earlier, Elliott also was sixth in assisted run tackles, and tied for eighth in solo run tackles and average tackle depth. Very impressive quality over quantity from Elliott as a tackler and run defender.

As I eluded to earlier, coverage is an element of play that DeShon Elliott can hopefully improve upon overall. However, he made an impact in an area I wanted to share. Here are coverage targets and yards per catch allowed from the 2024 season:

First, we note that DeShon Elliott was targeted at a high rate in 2024 compared to his peers, which is to be expected since opposing quarterbacks tend to avoid Fitzpatrick often in the passing game. Elliott was targeted 66 times last year, tied for the third-most.

I arranged most targets to best see which safeties saw high volume, and were able to limit yardage. This view illustrates DeShon Elliott as one of the best safeties in the NFL in these terms, tying for fourth in yards per catch allowed (9.2). Only four qualifiers were targeted over 65 times with an above the mean yards per catch allowed, including Elliott. Rare company indeed.

Part of this (and earlier stats) is alignment, playing in the box more than a free safety type like Fitzpatrick, who had more average results: 41 targets (21st), 11.9 yards per catch allowed (T-27th). Elliott had 325 box snaps in 2024 (15th), while Fitzpatrick came in at 196 (39th). Illustrates another way that the two complement each other.

Elliott also played often at slot corner, with 241 snaps there, which ranked sixth-most (out of the 46 qualifiers). This was more than I anticipated, and another layer of value he adds to the team that doesn’t exactly have the best options in the slot. To compare, Fitzpatrick had 94 (T-29th).

DeShon Elliott’s production and versatility that he provided the Steel City in 2024 were clearly worth and deserving of the contract extension. Namely, being top ten in the majority of forced fumbles/recoveries, tackling, and run defense stats, but also providing some value in coverage that he can hopefully improve upon in 2025.