Player: OLB Alex Highsmith
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: After missing most of the season thus far, OLB Alex Highsmith looks to return this week, bolstering the Steelers’ pass rush. Granted, they had their best two-game stretch in years without him, but that’s an unfair characterization. Nick Herbig held down the fort without him, but with Highsmith, the Steelers are far stronger.
Never mind the future, Alex Highsmith remains one of the Steelers’ best players right now. Getting him back healthy is a huge boost to a defense that aims to keep the pressure fresh and flowing. Nick Herbig deserves full marks for the job he did starting in Highsmith’s place. One could easily argue that he is deserving of a starting job.
The “problem” is, of course, when you have more starting-caliber players than starting jobs at outside linebacker. And Alex Highsmith is still very much worth a starting job. He was playing quite well this season before going down with his latest injury. Despite the work he’s put in to avoid soft-tissue injuries, it simply hasn’t worked. Already, he’s suffered two this year going back to training camp.
Speaking to reporters this week, Highsmith admitted that the injury has lingered a bit. I don’t know what that means with respect to impacting his playing time or effectiveness, but he’s back. He practiced in full yesterday and should do so again today.
Having missed the past two games, the question is, will the Steelers have Alex Highsmith on a pitch count? With Nick Herbig (and Jack Sawyer), they obviously don’t need to push him. He’ll want to be out there for as many snaps as he can get, but a reinjury is the last thing anybody wants. And the Steelers repeatedly acknowledge that Herbig wants and deserves more snaps anyway.
With regular season on the way and the roster in place, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of that change the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract. Oh, and they also traded some guy named George Pickens, which people found significant.
After a long offseason, we finally know what this Steelers team will look like for the 2025 season. The dust is long settled on both free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft, and now we’re into the real thing. What final moves might the team make, if any? They’ve certainly made a flurry of moves, though some question whether they make much difference. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
