It was a rather up and down season for the Pittsburgh Steelers, one that saw some impressive highs, but also brought some shocking lows.
Yet, in the end, the Steelers are right where they want to be: in the AFC playoffs.
Reaching the playoffs was no easy feat, especially after going through three starting quarterbacks on the season and dealing with a rather absurd about of injuries defensively, leading to the franchise bringing some veterans off the couch to try and plug holes.
Though it was a challenging season overall, the Steelers saw a handful of young pieces emerge as potential true foundational pieces. In fact, a pair of young players landed on Pro Football Focus’ All-Breakout team over the weekend, earning high praise from the analytics-based website.
That would be second-year wide receiver George Pickens and fourth-year outside linebacker Alex Highsmith.
Pickens joined Houston wider receiver Nico Collins on the all-breakout team.
“This was a difficult choice, as Pickens’ season was loaded with peaks and valleys. He had six games with a receiving grade below 60.0 and another four above 80.0,” PFF’s Jim Wyman writes regarding Pickens’ selection to the all-breakout team. “If you removed Chris Moore’s smaller sample size, Pickens led the NFL in yards per reception (18.1), though that number may be a bit inflated since it included a game where he averaged 31.8 yards per catch and another where he averaged 48.8.
“Pickens finished the year with 63 catches for 1,140 yards and five scores, earning a 76.4 receiving grade. Each figure was a noticeable improvement over his rookie season.”
Pickens certainly had some peaks and valleys throughout his second season in the NFL — on and off the field. He had five 100-yard games on the season and hauled in five scores. He was fantastic down the stretch for the Steelers once Pittsburgh inserted Mason Rudolph into the starting lineup, recording two straight 100-yard receiving games and putting together a number of explosive plays in the passing game.
But, he also had some issues with his attitude and effort at times. That said, the Week 18 performance against the Baltimore Ravens in which he didn’t see a single target was rather encouraging, earning him praise from his teammates.
There is no denying his physical talent. He has all the tools. If he can just keep his head on straight and focus on things he can control throughout games, the sky is the limit for the Georgia product.
Defensively, Highsmith was named as one of the EDGE defenders, joined by Miami’s Andrew Van Ginkel. Highsmith’s inclusion on the list is a curious one, considering he signed a huge four-year, $68 million extension in the offseason, but after a 14.5-sack season in 2022 all eyes were on Highsmith.
“Highsmith has been a solid pass rusher and a complementary piece to T.J. Watt since entering the league as a third-round pick out of Charlotte in 2020. That being said, his performance skyrocketed in 2023, as he put up an elite 90.3 defensive grade,” Wyman writes regarding Highsmith. “His sack total dropped from 15 in 2022 to seven in 2023, but his pass-rush grade jumped from 70.7 to 86.2 thanks to recording 14 more pressures this season. His coverage grade was just as impressive (86.5) after he snagged two interceptions, one of which he returned for a score.”
The sack numbers might not have been there for Highsmith this season, seeing his output decline to just 7.0. That doesn’t come close to signifying his impact though.
Highsmith was a terror opposite T.J. Watt throughout the 2023 season. He continued to hone in as a pass rusher, working towards perfection with a number of his pass rush moves in a deep arsenal. That allowed him to register pressures rather consistently, becoming that steady force opposite Watt.
As a run defender, Highsmith took that next step, too, continuing to set the edge for the Steelers against the run and play strong, smart football out there.
Where he took off most though this season was in coverage, generating two interceptions with a pick-6 to his credit. It’s not all about rushing the passer and stopping the run in Pittsburgh as an outside linebacker. You have to be able to drop into coverage, too, and Highsmith showed he can do that at a high level this season.
