PFF weights pressures as follows:
https://www.profootballfocus.com/signature-stats-pass-rushing-productivity/
Sack: 1.00
Hit: 0.75
Hurry: 0.75
- In what universe is a hit worth 75% of a sack?
- In what universe is a hurry of equal value to a hit? That makes zero sense and has a politically correct tinge to it. It's as though they don't want to admit that shaking up or ringing the bell of a QB has no value. Ask Cam Newton about this one. Even if you want to be absolutely politically correct, the hit should get more weight for the increased odds of an errant throw and an interception.
- In fact, there should be a 4th. category: "drill", below "sack" and above "hit". It's one thing to shove the QB as he throws. It's a whole other thing to take him to the ground.
- A hurry being worth 75% of a sack? That's the most ludicrous of all. Teams get 10 or 12 possessions per game. After turnovers, sacks are the leading possession killers.
- To your point about "effort plays", not all sacks are created equal. A guy blowing off the edge and drilling the QB for an 8 yard loss is the way we envision sacks in the abstract. There are also coverage sacks where the QB scrambles and gets caught for a 1 or 2 yard loss, not exactly a possession killer, on a defensive hustle play (or maybe without that much hustle), where the defender was initially blocked out of the play. The sack is more properly credited to the secondary.
As to this last point, for guys who claim to grade every player on every play, you'd think they'd put a quality-of-play adjustment on each of those pressures. At the very least, there should be 5th. category, the most valuable of all pass rush plays: "strip sack". Some guys have a knack for it, others do not.