Steelers Snap Counts: Can Less Be More for Alex Highsmith, T.J. Watt?

Alan Saunders |

Updated: Dec 27, 2023

Steelers Alex Highsmith T.J. Watt — Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebackers Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt in a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 30, 2023. -- Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

PITTSBURGH — Sometimes, less is more, and that might be the case for the Pittsburgh Steelers top edge rushing duo of T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.

Watt and Highsmith played 45 and 47 snaps, respectively, last Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals, while backups Markus Golden and Nick Herbig suited up 20 and 17 times. The 37 snaps from the Steelers backup edge rushers was the second-most in a game this season, and the most since the blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1.

But less playing time didn’t stop the top duo from being productive. Watt had a sack and Highsmith had a sack and an interception. In fact, it seems that on the whole, less might be more for those two.

In the five games where Watt has played more than 90% of the Steelers’ snaps, he has five sacks. In the five games he has played less than 80% of the team’s snaps, he has seven sacks.

Watt is trying to earn his second NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award and is one of the best defenders in the world, so it makes sense for him to be out there as much as possible, but the Steelers might be better off leaning on their backups a little bit more and keeping Watt fresher for end-game scenarios that often involve a lot of passing.

2 + 18 = ???

Mason Rudolph has been with the Steelers since 2018. Diontae Johnson has been with the team since 2019. They are two of the three longest-tenured Steelers on the offensive side of the ball, along with tackle Chuks Okorafor. To put it another way, George Pickens was a freshman in college the first year Rudolph and Johnson were teammates.

But even though they’ve been together forever, they’ve never really had that strong of a connection on the field. In 12 games together, Johnson’s average production has been a pedestrian four catches for 49 yards, and one touchdown every three games

Not only did Pickens get most of the yards from Rudolph in his first start of 2023 on Saturday, he played a lot more, too. Pickens had 46 snaps compared to 37 for Johnson. Even Allen Robinson II had more than Johnson with 40. Johnson’s role this week should be interesting to monitor.

STEELERS OFFENSIVE SNAP COUNTS

Pos	Player	SF	CLE	LV	HOU	BAL	LAR	JAX	TEN	GB	CLE	CIN	ARI	NE	IND	CIN
QB	Kenny Pickett	63	54	62	49	66	59	28	65	65	58	71	30	0	0	INJ
QB	Mitch Trubisky	0	0	0	10	0	0	39	0	0	0	0	31	70	52	0
QB	Mason Rudolph	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	0	6	59
RB	Najee Harris	33	31	31	29	37	34	35	38	33	33	38	36	40	20	26
RB	Jaylen Warren	25	23	28	29	32	27	32	26	33	26	34	36	37	40	34
RB	Anthony McFarland	5	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	1	0	INA	INA	INA	INA	—
RB	Qadree Ollison	—	0	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
RB	Godwin Igwebuike	—	—	INA	INA	INA	0	0	0	INA	INA	0	0	0	0	0
WR	George Pickens	56	46	55	58	58	53	62	58	62	53	53	49	60	54	46
WR	Diontae Johnson	27	IR	IR	IR	IR	39	61	57	53	50	52	44	48	50	37
WR	Allen Robinson II	56	47	50	50	57	38	46	47	50	45	45	33	41	36	40
WR	Calvin Austin III	35	41	45	53	37	7	18	17	13	10	18	9	20	9	11
WR	Miles Boykin	5	4	8	6	12	0	5	6	9	6	8	12	8	4	17
WR	Gunner Olszewski	INA	1	INJ	INA	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
TE	Pat Freiermuth	32	41	49	30	INJ	IR	IR	IR	IR	31	42	36	48	44	37
TE	Darnell Washingon	24	26	29	25	46	31	10	32	33	27	37	34	30	14	29
TE	Connor Heyward	17	10	13	15	37	51	49	40	34	8	24	19	11	16	14
TE	Rodney Williams II	—	—	—	—	4	11	12	3	3	0	4	5	4	2	2
LT	Dan Moore Jr.	63	54	62	8	INJ	59	66	65	65	58	71	61	70	58	59
RT	Chukwuma Okorafor	59	54	62	59	66	59	67	0	1	0	0	2	3	1	2
LG	Issac Seumalo	63	54	62	59	66	59	67	65	65	58	71	30	70	58	59
RG	James Daniels	63	54	62	INJ	INJ	59	67	65	65	58	71	61	70	58	59
C	Mason Cole	63	54	62	59	66	59	67	65	65	58	71	61	70	58	59
OT	Broderick Jones	4	0	0	51	66	0	5	65	65	58	71	61	70	58	59
OT	Dylan Cook	INA	INA	INA	0	0	INA	INA	INA	INA	INA	INA	INA	INA	INA	INA
C/G	Nate Herbig	0	0	0	59	66	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	0	0	0
OL	Spencer Anderson	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
OL	Ryan McCollum	—	—	—	—	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

STEELERS DEFENSIVE SNAP COUNTS

Pos	Player	SF	CLE	LV	HOU	BAL	LAR	JAX	TEN	GB	CLE	CIN	ARI	NE	IND	CIN
DT	Larry Ogunjobi	43	51	49	46	48	49	53	50	44	53	30	56	38	38	41
DT	Montravius Adams	34	52	47	41	56	46	49	2	INA	INA	INA	INA	17	23	20
DE	DeMarvin Leal	26	39	33	21	INJ	23	14	24	4	5	3	5	INA	9	INA
NT	Keeanu Benton	29	28	21	29	33	19	30	48	45	39	22	25	17	33	24
DT	Armon Watts	INA	22	18	34	18	17	28	INA	22	27	9	22	15	19	9
DT	Isaiahh Loudermilk	31	14	9	13	13	0	9	14	8	18	2	20	10	INA	13
DT	Cam Heyward	14	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	41	40	46	35	50	43	50	39
NT	Breiden Fehoko	—	INA	INA	INA	0	INA	INA	INA	INA	—	—	—	—	—	—
OLB	T.J. Watt	48	70	59	62	60	57	56	69	66	73	39	54	52	47	45
OLB	Alex Highsmith	49	68	52	63	61	53	63	63	63	66	40	61	17	52	47
OLB	Markus Golden	25	19	20	13	14	14	14	11	5	8	4	9	INA	24	20
OLB	Nick Herbig	16	17	13	4	5	12	9	7	2	3	3	12	45	11	17
OLB	Kyron Johnson	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0
ILB	Cole Holcomb	53	78	53	63	64	56	64	16	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR
ILB	Kwon Alexander	47	52	47	27	31	47	38	64	9	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR
ILB	Elandon Roberts	29	27	17	42	29	19	31	37	65	75	43	15	46	67	17
ILB	Mark Robinson	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	41	0	0	44	6	22	5
ILB	Tariq Carpenter	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	—	—	—	—
ILB	Mykal Walker	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	63	33	65	25	32	36
ILB	Blake Martinez	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	21	INA	INA
ILB	Myles Jack	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	47
CB	Patrick Peterson	67	85	71	71	63	67	71	74	68	74	41	53	54	67	64
CB	Levi Wallace	67	78	67	71	66	49	INJ	38	27	10	11	18	18	41	64
CB	Joey Porter Jr.	7	14	27	10	28	53	59	70	68	68	43	68	57	67	64
CB	James Pierre	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	0	0	12	0	0	INA	1	0
CB	Chandon Sullivan	13	47	18	21	24	22	28	16	19	27	18	17	8	31	45
CB	Darius Rush	—	—	—	—	—	INA	0	30	INA	INA	9	INA	0	INA	INA
CB	Desmond King	—	—	0	0	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
FS	Minkah Fitzpatrick	68	46	72	71	70	68	8	INA	INA	INA	INA	68	57	22	INJ
S	Damontae Kazee	49	77	53	34	43	58	67	74	68	75	43	62	51	18	SUS
SS	Keanu Neal	33	61	41	45	42	17	69	66	56	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR
SS	Miles Killebrew	0	2	1	0	1	0	12	0	0	16	1	0	0	11	0
DB	Elijah Riley	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	9	IR	IR	IR	IR	3
SS	Trenton Thompson	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7	58	42	24	30	51	INJ
SS	Eric Rowe	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	61