The Steelers are now in their offseason after failing to reach the playoffs in 2022, coming up just a game short of sneaking in as the seventh seed. They needed help in week 18 and only got some of it, so instead they sat home and watched the playoffs with the rest of us.
On tap is figuring out how to be on the field in January and February instead of being a spectator. They started out 2-6, digging a hole that proved too deep to dig out of even if they managed to go 7-2 in the second half of the year.
Starting from the end of the regular season and leading all the way up to the beginning of the 2023 season, there are plenty of questions that need answered, starting with who will be the offensive coordinator. Which free agents will be kept? Who might be let go due to their salary? How might they tackle free agency with this new front office? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout this offseason, as we have for many years.
Question: Can Alex Highsmith continue to evolve his spin move into a dominant weapon?
The Steelers locked in OLB Alex Highsmith yesterday on a four-year, $68 million contract extension, ensuring that he can T.J. Watt will be spending at least a big chunk of their career together. Having one strong pass rusher is good; having two is great.
And Highsmith has been at his best when he’s had Watt by his side—as anybody would. But he has plenty of his own assets he brings to the table. He came into the league with a noted arsenal of pass-rush moves, including a spin move that he has honed into a very fine weapon over the past two years.
But can he take it to that next level and make it virtually unbeatable? It’s an occasional move designed to win, one that you set up over the course of a game, and it’s certainly been profitable for Highsmith. But offenses were beginning to have success countering it late last season.
It may not be the only way he knows how to win—far from it, truth be told—but there’s no doubt it’s been one of his most successful percentage-wise, if not his most successful outright. It’s a sort of finishing move that ought to be employed sporadically and thoughtfully.
As mentioned, defenses did begin to have more success countering the move last year as the season wore on. It’s incumbent upon Highsmith to continue to fine-tune that move to make it even more versatile and harder to predict—both when it’s coming and how it’s coming.
I think we can safely assume that his new windfall is not going to diminish his work ethic. Even if it were a temptation, his father would hardly allow it. After all, it’s the hard work that has gotten him to this point. And it’s not like all that money is guaranteed.
