Hargrave is more than nose tackle
Calling Javon Hargrave a nose tackle isn’t incorrect.
The Steelers roster has to list him as … something. The Steelers remain a base 3-4 defensive team. Somebody has to have that “NT” next to their name. Someone has to play between the defensive ends.
When the Steelers move to their subpackages, though — as they so frequently do — and different numbers of linebackers and defensive backs cycle in, the nose tackle, positionally, tends to be the first to disappear.
Often, that means Hargrave sits; typically, he’ll play between 30 and 35 percent of defensive snaps. Sunday against Jacksonville, though — with defensive end Stephon Tuitt (knee) on the sideline — Hargrave was present (a season-high 51 snaps for 73.9 percent) and obvious. He sacked Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles twice and generally wreaked havoc.
That havoc was just rarely wreaked from the middle. Again — not incorrect. Just incomplete. And Hargrave, a third-round pick in 2016, would prefer that you were aware of the distinction. He is more than just a lane-clogger. His five sacks this season — in 10 games — are already a career best.
“I never really viewed myself as a nose,” he said Wednesday. “I think that’s just the position I am here. But nah, I don’t ever really claim just that. I play D-line.”
Whatever you want to call it, he played it particularly well against the Jaguars. It goes beyond sacks, too.
“[That’s] not the first game he’s done that,” defensive end Cam Heyward said. “It’s just the first game he got credited with the two sacks. But the dude can rush his tail off. And I’ve seen him beat a lot of centers, a lot of guards, and he’s showing it.”
The most obvious example — Pro Football Focus graded Hargrave’s game in Jacksonville as a 91.0, third in the league last week behind only the Rams’ Aaron Donald and the Chiefs’ Chris Jones. That bumped his average for the past six weeks up to 90.3, fifth among 109 interior defensive linemen with at least 100 snaps. On the year, he’s 12th overall (82.9) and 14th in run-defense (82.2).
So, no, we’re not just talking Bortles-aided “splash plays.” For Hargrave, this is a growing body of work aided, in part, by Tuitt’s absence — and it’s just what Mike Tomlin had in mind. He’d rather you not think of Hargrave as, solely, a nose tackle, either.
“This guy, his job description is nose or whatever, but there’s just not a lot of opportunities for nose in today’s NFL,” Tomlin said at his Tuesday news conference. “We spend the vast majority of our snaps in [subpackages], and so I’ve been really open about challenging him in terms of being a subpackage contributor.
“You don’t want to be pigeon-holed in this game, the more that you can do. He’s a guy who came with a resume. He’s a nose, but boy, his college resume is impressive in terms of his ability to get after the passer.”
Indeed. In his 2014 season at South Carolina State, Hargrave totaled 16 sacks. The following season, as a senior, he added 13.5. Listed at 6 feet 2, 305 pounds, “[Hargave] wasn’t a run stopper. He just looked like a run stopper,” Heyward said.
That’s the sort of skillset that primes you to jump from a Football Championship Subdivision school to third-round pick to rookie contributor.
“That’s all I really thought in college, was trying to get sacks,” Hargrave said. “I hope Coach T watched. He drafted me, I think, [to get sacks].
“I played every down [in college]. I played it all. And that was basically my main thought, was to get to the quarterback. I think playing the [middle as a pro], it was just little different techniques. Still gotta learn how to win in that position.”
Ironically, Hargrave’s production as a rotational player as a rookie, and a spell as — you guessed it — an injury replacement for Tuitt, led to taking over the starting nosetackle job. Since, for whatever reason, there have been fewer snaps at other spots on the defensive line.
That might be changing in real time. Hargrave has grown as a player since his rookie year, Heyward said, but increased reps as a pass rusher he’s getting, particularly in the nickel package, mean quite a bit.
“Sometimes it might not be your first move or your second move. It could be your third move, but you understand how the offensive line is blocking you, and you don’t always get that as a rotational guy,” Heyward said.
If nothing else, Hargrave is enjoying the chance. Tuitt, again, didn’t practice on Wednesday, so a similar shot might be upcoming Sunday in Denver. Impossible to blame him.
“I think anytime you see something positive about yourself, it does make you happy because you know how much work you put in for all of this,” he said. “I think we all just look forward to playing good and getting some recognition for it.”