Alex Highsmith is Happy the Steelers Added ‘Impact’ Depth Pieces for 2024
After enjoying his first double digit sack season in 2022, Alex Highsmith’s numbers went down in 2023. While it may have been a result of getting a healthy T.J. Watt back, Highsmith is tough on himself and expects greatness. Despite that mindset, Highsmith knows how to take the positives out of the negatives.
“I think I improved in many different ways [last year]. I do at times put too much pressure on myself,” Highsmith said. “It does get to my head when for example, I know my sack numbers were down this year, compared to last year. But I felt overall I was rushing as good, if not better, getting pressures and stuff like that.”
In 2022, with Watt out for most of the season, Highsmith totaled 14.5 sacks, his first and only double digit sack season to date. While any pass rusher would want to pile double digit sack seasons up, Highsmith does not get himself caught up with the hypotheticals and comparisons. He prides himself on what he accomplished in the league so far.
“It’s hard. You can’t get caught in the comparison thing,” said Highsmith. “Knowing this is how far I’ve come and what I’ve done in the league so far, that’s what gives me the confidence. Knowing I have been in double digits in sacks. I have caused forced fumbles. I’ve made a lot of plays. That’s what gives you confidence.”
While the Steelers look to have Highsmith, Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Cam Heyward all healthy for the first time in a while, they added to their depth to prevent the same situation they faced in 2023. Last year, the Steelers defense faced injury after injury and struggled at times because of their lack of depth. Highsmith stated that he is proud of the moves the team made to prevent the same issue in 2024.
“I think every position, we have a lot of depth,” Highsmith told reporters at the team’s OTAs. “I think that is the one thing that they did a good job of this offseason is getting a lot of guys that can play. Not just guys that are starting over but guys that can come in and make impact plays. We know if someone goes down, no matter what position, we have guys that can come in and make impact plays.”
Highsmith is undoubtedly the starter opposite of Watt and looks to rebound, sack wise, in 2024. With the defense fully healed and with proper reinforcements, Highsmith should have a better statistical season than he did last year.
56 • Alex Highsmith, Outside Linebacker, Charlotte
6-foot-4, 242 pounds, 26 years old, 5th Season
Acquired:Â The Steelers drafted Highsmith with the 102nd overall pick in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Last season:Â Highsmith started all 17 regular season games for the Steelers in 2023. While his sack numbers dropped from the previous year, Highsmith still had a very good season for the Steelers last year. He logged 57 tackles and seven sacks while recording two interceptions.
One of his interceptions came in Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns when he took a bobbled pass back for a defensive touchdown. Both Steelers outside linebackers scored touchdowns in that game.
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.
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.
| Year | GP | GS | Tackles | Sacks | Pressures | INTs | PFF Rating |
| 2020 | 16 | 5 | 42 | 2.0 | 21 | 1 | 72.0 |
| 2021 | 16 | 16 | 65 | 6.0 | 35 | 0 | 67.2 |
| 2022 | 17 | 17 | 60 | 14.5 | 55 | 0 | 78.0 |
| 2023 | 17 | 17 | 57 | 7.0 | – | 2 | 90.3 |
College:Â 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.
| Year | GP | GS | Tackles | TFLs | Sacks | FFs |
| 2016 | 12 | 1 | 17 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 11 | 0 | 33 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 12 | 12 | 60 | 17.5 | 3.0 | 2 |
| 2019 | 13 | 13 | 75 | 21.5 | 14.0 | 1 |
Salary cap and future: Highsmith re-upped with the Steelers last offseason with a four-year, $68 million contract extension. He is still one season away from entering the first year of the new money so he will cost $6.73 million against the team’s cap space in 2024. With his new contract, Highsmith will not become a free agent until after the 2027 season.
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