Steelers' Bud Dupree Named Most Overrated Edge Rusher Free Agent

PITTSBURGH -- Not everyone is convinced Bud Dupree's success will continue outside the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pro Football Focus highlighted every overrated and underrated player in the 2021 free agency class. A year that should feature plenty of big-name athletes, there's bound to miss fires when it comes to signings. And apparently, Dupree is believed to be one of them.

Out of all the edge rushers entering the open market, PFF named the Steelers' pass rusher as the most overrated edge player in the free agency class.

"Dupree is the classic buyer-beware candidate at the edge position," they wrote. "An incredibly gifted player capable of making splash plays, he also comes with a first-round pedigree and has 22 sacks over his past 27 games.

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"The problem is that he has played in an environment that gives him a lot of layups in terms of pass rushing. Last season, 60.5% of Dupree's total pressures were either unblocked, cleanup or pursuit plays, which are more circumstantial than they are evidence of plus play. By contrast, only 26% of T.J. Watt's pressures fell into those categories.

"Dupree can take advantage of a beneficial situation as a complementary pass-rusher, but there isn't much evidence that he can manufacture his own elite-level production. Dupree also is coming off a torn ACL suffered in December."

Dupree has accumulated 19.5 sacks and 32 quarterback hits in the last two seasons. He was on track for his second double-digit sack season prior to tearing his ACL in Week 11.

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert didn't rule out resigning Dupree this offseason, saying it all depends on the market value.

"We're never going to eliminate a great player like Bud Dupree, because we don't know what Bud's market is, and Bud doesn't know what his market is at this point," Colbert told reporters on Wednesday. "I think that's pretty common for not only our free agents but the whole free agency group until we get a solid cap number."

Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.