Already considered one of the best pass rushing tandems in football, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith are now top 32 players at the position, at least according to Pro Football Focus.
In the latest EDGE rankings from Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema Wednesday morning, both Watt and Highsmith landed inside the top 32 at the position, with Watt landing in Tier 1 at the position and No. 4 overall, and Highsmith cracking the list in Tier 5 at No. 32 overall, giving the Steelers two of the better bookend pass rushers in the NFL.
Watt landed behind Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, Dallas’ Micah Parsons, and San Francisco’s Nick Bosa in Tier 1, edging out Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby and Los Angeles’ Joey Bosa in the top tier.
“Watt was hurt last season, but when healthy, he is still a walking masterclass of how to play the edge position,” Sikkema writes regarding the 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Watt, as is well known, missed seven games last season after suffering a partial tear of his pectoral muscle late in the fourth quarter of the Week 1 overtime win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Once he returned, Watt wasn’t fully himself. He didn’t start to feel healthy until late in the season, leading to a modest 5.5 sacks in 2022 after tying the NFL record for sacks in a single season with 22.5 in 2021.
Without Watt in the lineup, the onus fell onto Highsmith to lead the way. He turned in a career year, finishing with 14.5 sacks for the Steelers, leading the league with five forced fumbles in the process.
Highsmith placed No. 32 overall in the rankings, finishing last in Tier 5 behind Cincinnati’s Sam Hubbard, Philadelphia’s Josh Sweat, Buffalo’s Greg Rousseau, Philadelphia’s Brandon Graham and New Orleans’ Cameron Jordan.
“Highsmith was productive in T.J. Watt’s absence, playing 941 defensive snaps with 14.5 sacks and 55 pressures,” Sikkema writes regarding Highsmith’s ranking.
Playing without Watt across from him, Highsmith recorded just 4.0 sacks in the seven games Watt missed. That’s not a bad number overall and would have put him right around 10.0 sacks on the season if Watt had missed the entire year. However, the lack of production and splash plays was a bit noticeable from Highsmith without Watt on the other side.
When Watt was in the lineup last season though, Highsmith was a game-wrecker, recording 10.5 of his 14.5 sacks on the season and four of his NFL-leading five forced fumbles on the year. Having a true dominant player like Watt on the field certainly helped Highsmith in terms of attention paid to the other side of the defense.
Combined, the two have recorded 65.5 sacks in three seasons from 2020, when Highsmith was drafted, until now. Watt had a historic year in 2021, recording 22.5 sacks to tie the single-season sacks record with Michael Strahan, while Highsmith put up 6.0 sacks opposite him and really developed into a key run defender that season.
The two play very well together and really give offenses headaches. It also helps that having a star like Cameron Heyward on the defensive line draws attention from offenses as well.
