Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. gave Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith high praise during a recent appearance on ESPN's NFL Live . He believes the heartbeat of the Steelers runs through their defensive front.
"I think that's honestly the heartbeat of their team, is their defensive front," Brown said. "They've got a number of guys man, in my opinion, that are starters and high-level players on this level, that have proven it. T.J. Watt, guys like Alex Highsmith, who many not get their credit and respect that they deserve. They've got a really good front. I mean, like I said, it's the heartbeat of their team."
"As everybody knows with T.J., man, he's impossible to keep off the stat sheet," Brown said. "I mean, there's been times I've played him, I thought I did a good job in pass-protection. And he's got two tackles for a loss on me, man."
Pittsburgh Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith coming out of the tunnel against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 22, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Pro Football Focus tabbed Watt and Highsmith as the best edge rusher duo in the NFL.
"The Steelers feature arguably the best defensive line in football, led by a top-tier edge defender pair," Zoltán Buday of PFF wrote . "While Highsmith was hindered by injuries last season, he was still among the most effective pass rushers in the league when on the field. His 89.3 PFF pass-rushing grade ranked seventh among 109 edge defenders. On the other hand, Watt led the position with a 90.3 PFF run-defense grade and ranked sixth in PFF pass-rushing grade (90.1), one spot ahead of Highsmith."
Watt, 30, did have a bit of a down year in 2024, registering the third least sacks in a season (11.5) in his career. The other two seasons were his rookie year (seven sacks) and 2022 (5.5 sacks) when he played in just 10 games due to a knee injury. Coupled with injuries last season, Watt was slowed down due to teams scheming against him since he doesn't switch sides. That could change this year.
"Yeah, I think [switching spots] is something we definitely got to include in the game, because, just like you said, teams were kind of catching on to what we were doing," Highsmith said at OTAs. "If we're able to move around to different spots and stuff like that, we'll be able to get teams off balance — and they can't just sit there and max protect."
Acquired : The Steelers drafted Highsmith with the 102nd overall pick in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Last Year: Highsmith, who was in his fifth season out of Charlotte, dealt with two separate injuries in 2024 that sidelined him for six games. It was a difficult season for Highsmith health wise, but was still productive. He was recognized by PFF as one of the top players of the 2024 season, ranking 65th overall. When healthy, he averaged 4.5 pressures per game and consistently graded as one of the top EDGE defenders in the league.
In 10 games, Highsmith recorded 38 tackles (24 solo), six sacks, nine tackles for loss and 13 quarterback hits.
Career:After the Steelers selected Highsmith in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, he was a backup to Bud Dupree in his first NFL season. Highsmith appeared in all 16 games for the Steelers and made five starts. He finished his rookie season with 42 tackles, two sacks, 21 pressures, and one interception. He recorded his first interception in Week 8 against the Baltimore Ravens and the next week he tallied his first NFL sack against the Dallas Cowboys .
In 2021, Highsmith became the full-time starter opposite of Watt and began to show why the Steelers used a third-round draft selection on him. He started all 16 games that he played in and finished the year with a career-high 65 combined tackles and six sacks. He pressured the quarterback 35 times in 2021. This effort cemented him as the starter going into the 2022 season.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith tackles New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones on Oct. 29, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Highsmith took his game to another level during the 2022 season. After T.J. Watt went down with an injury in Week 1 and missed the next eight weeks, Highsmith showed that he could be effective by himself.
Highsmith started the year fast as he sacked Bengals' quarterback Joe Burrow three times in the team's Week 1 overtime victory. He collected his second multi-sack game of the season in Week 10 against the New Orleans Saints as he recorded two tackles, two sacks, and four pressures. His third came in in Week 18 against the Cleveland Browns as he tallied five tackles, six pressures, and three sacks.
He started all 17 games for the Steelers and finished the season with 60 combined tackles, 55 quarterback pressures, and a career-high 14.5 sacks.
Pre-Draft:Highsmith ran an official 4.70 second 40-yard dash at 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. He recorded a Relative Athletic Score of 8.02, out of a possible 10.0.
College : After a strong career at Eugene Ashley High School in North Carolina, Highsmith walked on at the University of Charlotte where he would redshirt during his freshman season. In 2016, Highsmith would appear in 12 games as a redshirt freshman and finished the year with 17 tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack. He recorded one start in 2016.
In 2017, Highsmith stayed as a rotational piece for the 49ers ' defense as he played in 11 games but did not record a start. He finished the year with 33 combined tackles, five tackles for loss, and two sacks.
Highsmith took a massive leap forward in his first year starting full-time at Charlotte. In 2018, Highsmith started all 12 games and finished the year with 60 combined tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, and two forced fumbles. He broke the school's record for tackles for loss in a single season in 2018. After the season, Highsmith was named first-team all-Conference USA.
In his final year at Charlotte, Highsmith took another leap forward. He started all 13 games and finished the year with career-highs in tackles with 75, tackles for loss with 21.5, and sacks with 14. Highsmith broke the school's record for sacks in a game when he recorded 4.5 sacks against Old Dominion. He finished his collegiate career as the school's all-time leader in sacks. He was also a semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy, awarded to the top collegiate player who started as a walk-on.
Salary cap and future :Highsmith re-upped with the Steelers in the 2023 offseason with a four-year, $68 million contract extension. Highsmith will have an $18.6 million cap hit this season, which includes a base salary of $13 million. Highsmith will not become a free agent until after the 2027 season.
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This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Alex Highsmith Looks to Bounce Back after Injury-Riddled 2024 Season
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