Player: OLB Alex Highsmith
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Alex Highsmith reminded a national audience on Monday that the Steelers don’t just have T.J. Watt at outside linebacker. He has been Watt’s running mate for the majority of the latter’s career at this point and is a stout bookend. Even with Nick Herbig drawing attention, games like that against the Giants remind how good he can be.
Four tackles, two sacks, six total quarterback hits are Alex Highsmith’s stat line. He had twice as many pressures as well, depending on whom you ask. Spending most of the night going against Chris Hubbard, he was a problem for the Giants.
And it’s games like these that help remind you the Steelers are not just T.J. Watt. While Watt is in a category all of his own, having players like Alex Highsmith around is what enables him to be his full, unreserved, dominant self.
Highsmith provides a high base level of performance at the outside linebacker position, and he has since his rookie season. Of course he has improved over the course of his career, but he had a high level of professionalism immediately. That served him well back then and continues to be a valuable asset.
This has been a somewhat frustrating season for Highsmith, I’m sure, dealing with a groin injury. Actually, he has dealt with multiple groin injuries, one going back to training camp. His second injury caused him to miss three games of the regular season, but he is trying to make up for lost time.
In five games, Alex Highsmith now has 19 tackles, including four for loss, with three sacks and a pass defensed. He is still looking for his first forced fumble or interception this season, but they will find him.
In fact, Highsmith is playing some of his best ball heading into the Steelers’ bye week. One would hope that he will come out in the second half of the season playing like his hair is on fire. By then, he should be fully healthy and with the rust knocked off, ready to go on a run. He is already looking forward to getting to some AFC North football soon enough, and I’m sure so are we.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
