While teams around the league have moved their top pass-rushers around the defense and let them play on both sides, the Pittsburgh Steelers rarely swap OLBs T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. Highsmith almost always rushes from the right side going up against the left tackle and Watt the left against the right tackle, but Watt was open to moving around when speaking to the media after the 2024 season. After OTAs on Thursday, Highsmith echoed those same sentiments.
Highsmith said he believes that teams were catching on to Pittsburgh’s rush plan, and that if he and Watt are able to switch sides, the Steelers will get opposing offenses “off-balance.”
“I think that’s something that we definitely have to include in the game, because teams were kind of catching on to what we were doing, so if we’re able to move around to different spots and things like that, we’ll be able to get teams off-balance and you can’t just sit there and max protect,” Highsmith said via video posted to YouTube by Post-Gazette Sports.
“I think just repping it in practice…get comfortable with what you’re uncomfortable at, whether that’s switching sides or working different rushes and stuff like that, we’re just trying to sharpen it in practice so we can be effective day-to-day.”
Highsmith previously explained that he and Watt don’t switch sides because he’s more comfortable on the right and Watt the left, but he did say he has some moves that work better on the right side and some that are better on the left. Watt echoed that and said playing on the right is like writing with his opposite hand, and the comfort level and success for each never really made it necessary for them to switch.
But Pittsburgh’s pass-rush stagnated toward the end of last season, and Watt registered just 11.5 sacks, his lowest total in a full season since his rookie year. With defenses more in tune to what Watt and Highsmith are going to do and offensive tackles just having to prepare for one and not both of them, Pittsburgh wasn’t able to get home and the defense as a whole struggled.
It would be a big change for both Watt and Highsmith if the two wind up switching sides more next season. Last year, Watt had just 11 snaps on the right side while Highsmith only had four on the left. Highsmith did have 66 snaps on the left side in 2022, playing the opposite side more often with Watt missing time due to injury, but playing the opposite side isn’t something either of them have a lot of experience at recently.
As Alex Highsmith said, though, the two will have plenty of time in practice to rep it. Watt hasn’t been at voluntary OTAs through the first three days yet, but come mandatory minicamp and training camp, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Watt and Highsmith work on switching sides more than usual to prepare to make it more part of their game plan in 2025.
