For years, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ greatest strength has been their pass rush. T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward and company have terrorized opposing offenses. However, near the end of last season, they were less effective. Watt in particular had far less of an impact than he usually does, not recording a sack over the Steelers’ final three regular season games. This year, the Steelers are trying something a little different on defense, flirting with the idea of moving Watt and Alex Highsmith around. Highsmith recently shared his thoughts on that concept.
“We’re definitely trying to do that because, I know for us, we’ve played on the same side for at least my whole career,” Highsmith said Sunday via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s YouTube channel. “I’ve been on the right. He’s been on the left. Also, in college, my last two years I was mainly on the right.
“During this camp, being uncomfortable because I think it’s something that we need to do just to switch it up to give different looks to the offense,” Highsmith added. “I think we’ve done a good job at trying to practice that during camp.”
Highsmith is correct that, since he got to Pittsburgh, he and Watt have been rooted on their respective sides of the defense. Early in his career, Watt played on the right side, but he switched over, feeling more comfortable rushing from the left.
In the past, Watt expressed that he’s had difficulties trying to move over and play at right outside linebacker. He and Highsmith were having a lot of success as a duo, too. There was no reason to mess with that formula.
However, with Watt getting schemed out of games now more than ever, it might be time to add a new wrinkle to his game. But moving Watt also means moving Highsmith. Highsmith is most comfortable rushing from the right side, but he’s working to expand his game.
“I was working both sides this offseason,” Highsmith said. “When it comes to working on the run game on that side, working with different moves. I’m not over there often, so when I’m over there, I try to just work a couple moves and stick to those and try to perfect those.”
The Steelers haven’t shown a ton of looks with Highsmith and Watt flipped. It doesn’t seem like something they’re going to do often. However, they’re working to implement it into their defense. They could use it in certain situations to confuse offenses.
Last year, the Steelers flipped Watt and Highsmith a handful of times. It wasn’t a big enough sample size to be notable, though. That could change this year, with both pass rushers putting in time and effort to get used to switching.
It can be difficult for players to switch sides and continue to play at a high level. Watt and Highsmith are both great players, though. They’re working hard to be as impactful as they can be this year. That means getting used to being uncomfortable sometimes. Mike Tomlin likes to say that the Steelers don’t seek comfort. This experiment supports that idea. We’ll see how much the Steelers employ it when games start.
