Steelers A to Z: In 1st year of contract, Alex Highsmith played better than production suggests

Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2024 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 14 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

OLB ALEX HIGHSMITH

Experience/age: 5^th season, turns 27 next month

Contract status: $6.93 million cap hit in 2024, signed through 2027

The past: Highsmith has been a reliable, steady presence since the Steelers took him with a third-round pick in 2020. He’s the type of teammate who’s well-liked and has a work ethic and demeanor that endears himself to coaches. That’s what helped earn him a four-year, $68 million contract extension last summer.

His play on the field, of course, warranted it. He had 19 sacks over his previous 25 games dating to the midpoint of the 2021 season and led the NFL with five forced fumbles in 2022. Highsmith became a starter during December of his rookie year and quickly evolved into the perfect “Robin” to T.J. Watt’s “Batman” as Steelers edge defenders. He’s played in 69 of the Steelers’ 70 games (including playoffs) since he was drafted and has 31 ½ sacks, eight forced fumbles, 42 tackles for loss, 61 QB hits, three interceptions and a “pick six” to open a September 2023 victory against the Cleveland Browns.

Some, though, will point to Highsmith’s sack production getting more than halved from 2022 to 2023. After finishing sixth in the NFL with 14 ½ sacks his third season, Highsmith had just seven fresh off that contract extension last year.

2024 outlook: But despite the raw sack numbers falling, some within the Steelers believe Highsmith was even better in 2023 than he was in 2022. Advanced stats suggest that’s true. The “Approximate Value” all-encompassing metric from pro-football-reference.com rated Highsmith’s 2023 better than his 2022. So did Pro Football Focus’ subjective grades. PFF observed a significant increase in overall quarterback “pressures” from Highsmith last season, and Highsmith also improved in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate. Sports Info Solutions likewise rated Highsmith among the NFL’s best in 2023 at pressuring quarterbacks, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

But Highsmith himself will tell you he needs to “get home” more. Production matters most, and he surely is aiming for double-digit sacks again this season. That Highsmith’s most productive season came during a year in which Watt missed considerable time because of multiple injuries means the duo has not combined to total 30 sacks in a season. If each stays healthy in 2024, odds are that will happen because Highsmith will have a regression to the mean and reach somewhere in the teens in sack production — and Watt has been good for at least that throughout his career.

Spelling both will be second-year Nick Herbig. But if Highsmith can turn a higher rate of the pressures he accumulated in 2023 into sacks in 2024, surely Pro Bowl-worthy recognition will follow.