2024 Blitz Rates: The Blitz is Back!

The blitz is back, and quarterbacks have to be ready for it.

In 2024, our charting had quarterbacks under pressure 31% of the time. That’s the highest rate since FTN Data began charting, and the largest we’ve seen (including our past data providers) since the pandemic. It’s hard to compare exact numbers apples-to-apples when you’re using different charting services, but the general consensus is that pressure rates started dipping in empty stadiums in 2020 and are only now recovering to where they were from about 2017-2019. In 2024, 20 different quarterbacks were pressured at least 30% of the time. That’s up from 16 in 2023, 11 in 2022 and seven in 2021. Quarterbacks are running for their lives more often, to the pleasure of defensive coordinators everywhere.

One of the big reasons why? Teams blitzed more often in 2024 than they have in years. Our charting says that teams sent at least five pass rushers on 26.8% of dropbacks last year, and sent at least six on 6.6%. Both numbers are the highest we’ve seen in FTN’s charting. Even under our older charting, we haven’t seen blitz rates this high in a decade. The era of being terrified someone like Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen would dice you up if you sent extra pass rushers appears to be over.

Twenty-two teams saw their blitz rate increase from 2023 to 2024, led by the Jets jumping 11.2%. The average team blitzed 1.2% more often in 2024, and most of the biggest drops – the Vikings and Giants – were historic outliers in 2023, coming down to slightly more reasonable league-leading levels.

Was it justified? Mostly. The league had its best defensive DVOA when sending exactly five rushers, at 4.2%. That became 7.0% when sending six or more rushers, and to 6.8% when sending only four. (Remember, lower numbers are better for defense, and the overall DVOA for passes is higher because passes are more efficient than runs.) DVOA ratings with six-man rushes vary pretty strongly from year to year, because it’s such a small fraction of plays, but five-man rushes typically do perform better than four-man rushes. That said, five-man DVOAs were higher in 2021 and 2022 when done at lesser rates. There’s an element of surprise that comes with the blitz, and if you pump your rates too high, that goes away. Still, when in doubt, send at least one extra guy.

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Let’s dive into the numbers some and look at how each team fared by number of pass rushers.