---
slug: "pass-rush-win-rate"
title: Pass Rush Win Rate
depth_tier: entry
side: DEFENSE
category: Analytics
source_id: "ANA-0011"
created: 2026-04-19
updated: 2026-04-19
canonical: https://learningfootball.xyz/terms/pass-rush-win-rate
aliases:
  - PRWR
  - "pass rush win %"
  - pass rush win percentage
---
# Pass Rush Win Rate

## Short Definition

How often a pass rusher defeats their blocker within a set time window—isolating individual matchup performance from sack totals, which depend on team context.

## Definition

Pass rush win rate measures how often a pass rusher beats their blocking assignment within a defined time window—typically 2.5 seconds for interior linemen and 3 seconds for edge rushers, reflecting the average NFL pocket time. A player who "wins" the matchup by defeating the blocker within that window is credited with a pass rush win regardless of whether they actually reached the quarterback.

The metric was developed to address the fundamental problem with using sacks to evaluate pass rushers: sacks are team-dependent. A dominant pass rusher on a team that plays man coverage with conservative schemes might accumulate 6 sacks; the same player in an aggressive zone blitz scheme against weaker offensive lines might get 14. Win rate strips out as much of that context as possible by measuring the individual matchup.

Elite pass rush win rates typically fall in the 20–25% range for edge rushers. Interior defensive linemen win at slightly higher rates due to shorter leverage distances. Teams use win rate to evaluate pass rush talent in free agency and the draft, to set blocking schemes, and to identify which blockers are losing enough matchups to require double teams.

Win rate also has an offensive equivalent—pass block win rate—which measures how often offensive linemen prevent the pass rusher from winning within the time window. Together they create a direct matchup efficiency metric that neither sacks nor traditional blocking grades fully capture.

## Example

"He has a 24% pass rush win rate—top five in the league. Only 7 sacks, but that's a quarterback who gets the ball out fast. He's winning every time. The sacks will come in a different situation."

## Common Confusion

Pass rush win rate measures beating the blocker within a time threshold—not sacks. An edge rusher can win his block matchup on 90% of his rushes and still have only 5 sacks because the quarterback got the ball out quickly. Sack totals depend on the quarterback's release time, the coverage holding, and the back staying in to chip. Win rate isolates what the rusher controls: getting past the blocker.

## Related

- pressure-rate
- dvoa
- pff-grade
- epa-expected-points-added
- snap-count

---
Source: https://learningfootball.xyz/terms/pass-rush-win-rate