Early this offseason, Pittsburgh Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith said one thing he wanted to improve this offseason was his get-off. In an interview with the DVE Morning Show earlier this week, Highsmith said he thinks it’s gotten better over the summer.
“I feel like I’ve been getting off the ball faster,” he said. “Just continuing to refine my pass rush moves is something that I’ve tried to work on as well. But for me, it’s always about how fast I can get from here to that spot to beat the tackle as fast as I can.”
Highsmith had a career-high 14.5 sacks this year, and he’s confident he can do even better this season. With T.J. Watt fully healthy, teams are going to struggle to account for Watt and Highsmith off the edge as well as Cameron Heyward inside, and there could be a lot of opportunity for Highsmith to clean up a few sacks.
He showed off an impressive array of pass rush moves last season, but adding to that repertoire is going to be important so he can keep catching opposing offensive tackles by surprise. On top of that, if Highsmith can show he finish plays better than he has in the past, then clearing 15 sacks is certainly possible.
The Steelers pass rush should once again be one of the league’s best, and they should challenge for the league lead in sacks. For Highsmith, the key this year is going to be to show that he can sustain and build on the progress he made last season. By improving his get-off and working on his pass rush arsenal, he’s well on his way to having another strong season, and that should cement him among the best pass rushers in the league.
With the outside linebacker core of Highsmith and Watt, which was named the league’s best outside linebacker unit by ESPN, Pittsburgh’s defense should always be towards the top of the league. Both of them are proving to be elite or near-elite pass rushers, which helps a secondary that can take advantage of rushed throws by opposing quarterbacks.
It’s going to be fun to see how the Steelers’ defense looks at full-strength this season. There’s a lot of potential, and the defense could help carry the Steelers into the postseason while helping them nab their first postseason win since 2016.
