Bud Dupree finished his 2019 season with four tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits in the 28-10 loss to the Ravens. That extra sack gave him 11.5 on the year, tied for ninth most in the NFL.
That almost doubled Dupree's career best with six sacks in the 2017 season. But was it a hot streak that he won't repeat? Or has he actually evolved to a level that should make the Steelers bring him back?
Let's dig in:
Dupree also finished the season with 68 tackles, another career high with his next best being his 42 tackles from 2018. The most obvious and exciting factor of Dupree was always his athleticism and explosiveness to chase down people in the open space.
Watch how the Ravens try a zone run away from Dupree, but that doesn't stop him from chasing down the speedy Justice Hill and shutting the run down before he can find a seam:
That kind of backside pursuit can kill offensive plans when coordinators think they can take an edge defender out of the equation by avoiding them. But Dupree has long been known to succeed when he's not blocked. The biggest critique of his play was how he performed while engaged with blockers.
That hasn't been a problem in 2019 and he put an exclamation point on his work against the Ravens. Watch how the Ravens try to pull their center to kick out Dupree from the hole and open up space for Hill. Dupree explodes into the block, cutting it off as early as possible to minimize the space for Hill to operate.
He also engages with his inside shoulder, leaving his outside shoulder free and thus forcing Hill to run inside of him where there's more help from his teammates. But Dupree doesn't settle for just holding his gap as he spins to the inside once he sees Hill commit and brings him down for no gain:
Those are the little things against the run Dupree has done very well. Whether he works in space or has to get physical at the point of attack, Dupree has found ways to make sure his edge was under control for most of the season.
Remember when Hunter Homistek wrote for us about Dupree's boxing training and how he broke a punching shield? That striking power from his hands showed up all season. It allowed him to set the tone and establishing position against offensive tackles every week.
Watch how that work when he beats tackle James Hurst. Dupree has to work to contain Robert Griffin III from breaking the pocket so he has to be careful about rushing too far. So he strikes with his inside hand to the chest of Hurst, shoving him into the backfield. Once Griffin broke the pocket Dupree was strong enough to disengage Hurst immediately and record the sack:
It's not a fluke of a season where most of his sacks came from luck. It doesn't mean he can afford to stop working and rely on his growth to this point, but it does signify that he's ready to be a top tier edge rusher in the NFL. He was one of the NFL's best in 2019.
The Steelers have serious decisions to make as they approach the 2020 NFL offseason with approximately $5.4 million in cap space and Dupree about to be a free agent. His performance this year makes re-signing him a top priority.
MORE CLASSROOM
Dec. 30: Snell's case for 2020
Dec. 27: Finding Duck’s balance
Dec. 26: JuJu’s work in progress
Dec. 24: Defense just needs a lead
