The Pittsburgh Steelers have one of the best starting outside linebacker tandems in the league with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, but until last week, the group behind the two looked suspect. The Steelers added to the room by bringing in former New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals OLB Markus Golden. In a one-on-one interview with Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews, Highsmith praised the addition of Golden.
“Markus, he’s a veteran guy, talented edge rusher, multiple seasons with 10 sacks, so I know he’s gonna add a lot of value to our room and I can’t wait to get to work with him,” Highsmith said via video posted to Steelers.com.
In addition to Golden, Highsmith had praise for players competing for the fourth OLB spot, including fourth-round pick Nick Herbig and former sixth-round pick Quincy Roche.
“Nick and Quincy and David Perales, they’re young guys who are eager to work and who are here to get better,” Highsmith said. “Just seeing the approach they’re taking to their day-to-day process has been awesome.”
Herbig could dabble at off-ball linebacker as well as outside linebacker, although for the time being the team intends on trying him as an EDGE. Herbig’s versatility could conceivably lead to the team keeping four true OLBs on the roster, which would mean that Perales, an undrafted free agent out of Fresno State, and Roche are battling for one roster spot.
It’s a group that’s unproven but interesting behind Watt, Highsmith and Golden. Obviously, the addition of Golden makes a huge difference in what was otherwise shaky depth behind Watt and Highsmith, but that doesn’t necessarily mean guys like Roche and Perales are bad; they just aren’t guys you want to have to rely on to play significant snaps in case of injury.
Perales had a ton of sack production at Fresno State with 23 over three seasons, and his ability to get to the quarterback makes him one of Pittsburgh’s most intriguing UDFA pickups. Meanwhile, Roche has experience with the New York Giants, picking up 2.5 sacks in 2021 after being claimed off waivers by New York from Pittsburgh after training camp. He also has the ability to get after the quarterback and can play on special teams. He had a solid preseason in 2021 for the Steelers but lost out to Jamir Jones for the team’s last roster spot at OLB.
It’s going to be interesting to watch how everything shakes out at the fourth OLB spot and whether or not Herbig does end up playing the position primarily or shifts between OLB and ILB.
Either way, the addition of Golden makes EDGE depth a much-smaller concern than it was just a few weeks ago, and hopefully the Steelers aren’t in a situation like last year where they require their backups to play significant snaps anyway. If Watt and Highsmith both stay healthy, the Steelers should be very comfortable at the position and get back to racking up sacks like they did pre-2022.
