Quietly, veteran outside linebacker Alex Highsmith had quite the dominant year for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023.
With a lot of attention on T.J. Watt as he put together another Defensive Player of the Year caliber season, Highsmith was just as good as his fellow outside linebacker, just without the eye-popping stats.
Highsmith saw his sacks drop from 14.5 in 2022 to just 7.0 in 2023, but his play didn’t decline at all.
Though Steelers fans know how good Highsmith is, the rest of the NFL seemingly doesn’t, which is why Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar named Highsmith one of the most underrated players in the NFL.
“The Steelers have never been light on great edge-rushers over the last few decades, and they’re very good at getting guys who float in under the radar and show up big in the NFL despite their humble beginnings. Highsmith, selected in the third round of the 2020 draft out of Charlotte, is an outstanding example,” Farrar writes regarding Highsmith as one of the most underrated players in the NFL. “He had the best season of his career after he got the money, which is always nice. In 2023, Highsmith had eight sacks and 72 total pressures, with Watt taking some of those sacks for himself.
“Get used to this underrated star getting to the quarterback more often than not.”
Alex Highsmith was quite underrated coming out of Charlotte in the 2020 NFL Draft, leading the Steelers to land him in the third round. This gave them depth behind Watt and former outside linebacker Bud Dupree.
Dupree then got hurt late in the 2020 season, suffering a torn ACL, putting Highsmith into the starting lineup. Then, that off-season, Dupree signed with the Tennessee Titans in free agency, making Highsmith the full-time starter. He’s gotten better and better every single season and earned a four-year, $68 million extension last summer from the Steelers coming off of a 14.5-sack season.
Highsmith generated 69 total pressures on the season to go along with his seven sacks in 2023 after receiving his extension, putting together one of his most complete seasons.
He finished among the ten highest-graded edge defenders on the season from Pro Football Focus at 90.3 and did it all for the Steelers. He had two interceptions, including a pick-six, and added two forced fumbles.
Quietly, Alex Highsmith was the Steelers’ best run defender for a long stretch, consistently setting the edge as teams tried to run away from Watt.
He’s an incredibly important piece for the Steelers’ defense and should really start to make a major name for himself in the NFL moving forward.
