Last offseason, Pittsburgh Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith signed an extension to keep him here through the 2027 season, solidifying the starting tandem of edge rushers with T.J. Watt for the foreseeable future. A quick glance at his stat line would suggest that he had a down year, having seven sacks compared to his 14.5 the season prior, but he was just as disruptive and played at a high level all season long. Pro Football Focus has been ranking the best players from the 2023 season, and listed Highsmith at No. 52 among the 101 top players of 2023.
He continued to show how durable and dependable he is with 17 starts. In his four-year career, he has only missed one game with a groin injury in Week 3 of the 2021 season. For the 2023 season, he logged 57 total tackles, 34 solo tackles, eight tackles for loss, 18 QB hits, seven sacks, two forced fumbles, and two interceptions. One of those interceptions was returned for a touchdown in Week 2, and it was one of the big reasons the Steelers won that game against the Cleveland Browns.
Here is what PFF’s Sam Monson wrote about Highsmith in the ranking:
“With all the focus on T.J. Watt and his defensive player of the year candidacy, it was easy to overlook that Alex Highsmith on the other side of the line came close to matching his production. He racked up 72 total pressures on the season and made several huge plays, including two forced fumbles, and two interceptions.”
Along with his pick-six in that Week 2 game against the Browns, Highsmith forced a fumble on a sack of Deshaun Watson that Watt picked up and returned it for a touchdown. Highsmith just about took that game over single-handedly and delivered the Steelers a good start for their divisional record on the season.
This is Highsmith’s first inclusion on PFF’s top 101 list, and he is currently the only player from the Steelers featured on the list. The final 20 spots will be revealed on Friday, and Watt is an obvious inclusion there. This will be the third-straight year that only two players from the Steelers made the cut for this list.
Highsmith finished with an “elite” PFF grade on the season of 90.3, which was only slightly lower than Watt’s 91.9. The Steelers will have a formidable edge tandem for at least two more seasons and likely longer than that if and when they extend Watt.
