As the Detroit Lions have continually signed players they view as their core to lucrative long-term deals, their investment in defensive tackle Alim McNeill looks far less ideal by comparison. Recovery from a torn ACL late in the 2024 season clearly impacted his effectiveness last season, by the eye test and Pro Football Focus grades in equal measure.
McNeill has been open about the idea he feels fully healthy now, which is common when a player is furthered removed from an injury like his. In general, injuries over the last few seasons have kept him from reaching his full potential. And, from a contract perspective, justifying the investment the Lions have made in him.
McNeill reshaped his body and had a breakthrough campaign in 2023, with five sacks as PFF graded him out as the seventh-best defensive tackle in the league. Sheerly on the pass rushing front, he was tied for 21st in pass rush grade among defensive tackles with at least 115 pass rush snaps. His pass rush win rate (12.1 percent) came in at 28th.
In 2024, McNeill was again a top-10 graded defensive tackle by PFF. His pass rush grade (77.1) came in 12th at the position among those with at least 126 pass rush snaps, with the sixth-best pass rush win rate (14.5 percent) among those qualifiers.
Alim McNeill remained pretty good in one area despite last year's limitations
Operating at less than full strength, McNeill's effectiveness dropped off across the board last season. However, a deeper look shows he had the 38th-best pass rush win rate (per PFF) among defensive tackles with at least 111 pass rush snaps.
ESPN NFL analytics gurus Brian Burke and Seth Walder recently revealed some changes to how the outlet determines their pass blocking and pass rush win rates. That includes the addition of a metric called "bull rush win rate", defined as "when a defender pushes his blocker close enough to the QB to affect his vision or ability to step up, or forces him out of the pocket. The pass rusher might not get his tracking chips past his blocker's chips, but he successfully disrupted the play."
On that note, looking at "who won the most with bull rushes" last season, there was a surprising nugget about McNeill.
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"Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill recorded the highest bull rush win rate -- as in, bull rush wins per pass rush -- among players with at least 200 pass rushes."
With one fully healthy leg, McNeill still managed to, using ESPN's definition of an effective bull rush is, "push his blocker close enough to the QB to affect his vision or ability to step up, or forces him out of the pocket" at the highest rate per pass rush in the league last season.
What could McNeill do as a pass rusher with two good legs for a full 17-game season? The rest of the league may be about to, finally, find out.
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