HOU Houston Texans · LB· #0

Azeez Al-Shaair

Age
29
Height
6'2"
Weight
228 lbs
College
Florida Atlantic
Drafted
Not drafted
Experience
8th NFL season

55

Overall grade

15th of 65 linebackers

Well above typical

about average; 50 is average

Grades updated Rechecked every few hours on game days

The read

Azeez grades about average among linebackers so far, with no number far from the middle.

Lately he is playing better. Tackles per 100 snaps is 20.4 over the last 2 games (54 snaps), against 16.9 before that. A few plays could easily explain this. Worth watching, not worth believing yet.

Role is shrinking: When he plays he is on the field for about 8 of every 10 plays lately, down from nearly every play before.

Written from his numbers, not from film. 4 games are behind the season figures.

How he stacks up

Every graded stat at a glance, against all the linebackers in the league.

  • Tackles per 100 snaps18.04th of 63small sample
  • Missed tackles6%28th of 65small sample
  • Tackles for loss per 100 snaps0.635th of 63small sample

Left is the worst at his job, right is the best, and the line down the middle is average. The bubble is his percentile: 90 means better than nine in ten qualifying linebackers. Faded bars are still small samples.

How he has progressed

Where he has ranked among linebackers after each week, and every game behind it.

WorstMiddleBestrecent12345Week 1: 48th percentileWeek 2: 46th percentileWeek 3: 57th percentile57th

Season rank climbed: 48th to 57th percentile since Wk 1.

The line is his season-to-date rank among players at his position after each week, from 100 (the best) to 0 (the worst). It rises when he passes other players, not when he has one big game. Early weeks are noisier because fewer plays are behind them. The shaded weeks are the recent stretch.

Missed tackles game by game
WeekOpponentThat gametackle chancesSeason rank after
1vs BUF11%948th pct
2vs CIN8%1346th pct
3vs IND0%1157th pct

Lower is better for this stat. One game is a small sample: a single stat over 11 tackle chances can swing on a handful of plays. Shaded rows are the recent stretch.

The numbers, in context

Each one against every linebacker with at least 10 tackle chances. Right on the strip is better.

Missed tackles

Typical

6%lower is better

28th of 65 linebackers · top 44%

The share of his tackle chances he missed. Fewer is better.

The box score: Tackle totals reward the player who gets the most chances, not the one who finishes them.

Does it show up in winning? Across 212 games league-wide, a good or bad game on missed tackles from a linebacker has not lined up much with his team winning (53% wins in the best third, 47% in the worst).

Last 2 games: 0% (11) vs 9% before+8.6grade points upLeaning that way

Small sample: could move a lot · 33 tackle chances · true level likely -2% to 14%

Tackles per 100 snaps

Elite

18.0

4th of 63 linebackers · top 7%

Tackles for every 100 snaps he plays. It shows how often the ball is finding him, which is partly the scheme.

The box score: A tackle total ignores snaps.

Does it show up in winning? Across 213 games league-wide, a good or bad game on tackles per 100 snaps from a linebacker has not lined up much with his team winning (51% wins in the best third, 44% in the worst).

Last 2 games: 20.4 (54) vs 16.9 before+14.5grade points upWithin the noise

Small sample: could move a lot · 172 snaps · true level likely 12.7 to 23.3

Tackles for loss per 100 snaps

Typical

0.6

35th of 63 linebackers · bottom 47%

Plays he ends behind the line of scrimmage, for every 100 snaps.

The box score: Tackles for loss are counted, but never against the snaps he played.

Does it show up in winning? Across 213 games league-wide, a good or bad game on tackles for loss per 100 snaps from a linebacker has not lined up much with his team winning (48% wins in the best third, 52% in the worst).

Last 2 games: 0.0 (54) vs 0.8 before−10.3grade points downWithin the noise

Small sample: could move a lot · 172 snaps · true level likely -0.4 to 1.5

How he plays

Tendencies: how his game differs from the linebackers around him. These are not better or worse, only different, and often say as much about the offense or defense he plays in as about him.

Pressures per 100 snaps

Style

0.0

Stays home, and more so than almost any of the linebackers. A typical one is 0.8.

How often he gets after the quarterback, for every 100 snaps. For a linebacker it describes his job more than his quality, so it is shown, not graded.

Sample still growing · 172 snaps

Playing time

He has played in 3 of his team's 4 games with snap counts, on the field for about 92% of the team's defensive plays when he plays.

Role is shrinking. When he plays he is on the field for about 8 of every 10 plays lately, down from nearly every play before.

Each column is a game: the share of his team's defensive snaps he played. 80% means about 8 of every 10 plays. “Out” means he did not play; a question mark means snap counts are not posted yet. Shaded games are the recent stretch.

Game by game

Every game this season: how it ended for his team, how much he played, his box score, and the advanced numbers from that one game. One game is a small sample, so read the right-hand columns as a snapshot, not his level.

Azeez Al-Shaair game by game
GameResultSnapsTklSoloAstTFLSacksPressPBUIntMissedMissedTackles/100TFL/100
Wk 1 vs BUFL 31–36100%85310000111%13.81.7
Wk 2 vs CINL 6–20100%12660000018%20.00.0
Wk 3 vs INDL 17–1976%11290000000%20.40.0
Wk 5 vs TENW 26–3–1156000100–––

The box score

The traditional totals, with where each ranks among linebackers. A total rewards volume, which is why the advanced numbers above matter.

Azeez Al-Shaair box score totals
StatTotalRank
Tackles429th of 65
Solo tackles1819th of 65
Assisted tackles248th of 65
Tackles for loss138th of 65
Sacks029th of 65
Pressures052nd of 65
Passes defended119th of 65
Interceptions017th of 65
Missed tackles225th of 65

Players with a similar profile

The linebackers whose grades are closest to his across the same stats. Similar means similar numbers, not the same style of play.

Ranks are among players at the same job who have enough plays to be graded. Grades and rankings come from play-by-play, charting and snap-count data, so they cannot see blocking, route running or assignments. See how the grades work.

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Data: nflverse play-by-play, CC BY 4.0. Also FTN charting, Pro Football Reference advanced stats, snap counts and injury reports, all through nflverse. Calculations and charts by Raiders Rundown.