Player: OLB Alex Highsmith
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: After missing last week’s game, Alex Highsmith is still not practicing to start the following week of practice. While it’s too early to use that as an indicator of his status, he has battled minor injuries frequently. Prior to his latest injury, he was playing some of the best football of his career.
Throughout his career, Alex Highsmith’s biggest hurdles has been corralling his own body into doing what it ought to. While he has only begun to miss serious playing time in the past two seasons, minor injuries have been a common theme. He has played through some, and they have affected his performance.
After missing six games due to injury last season, Highsmith has already missed three this year. He sat out last week’s game with a pectoral injury, but could he continue to miss time? In the last game, the Steelers used Jack Sawyer liberally, including in their three-OLB package.
But they sure could use him. In the two games prior to his injury, Alex Highsmith totaled four combined sacks. With two sacks in each game, not even T.J. Watt has done that in consecutive weeks. That four brought him up to 5.5 sacks on the season, half a sack behind where he finished last year.
While Highsmith has only really only one Pro Bowl-worthy year, he has been a consistently good player. At least he has been when not bothered by injuries. He seemed to return from injury no worse for wear earlier this season, so can he do it again? And when will he return?
With regular season underway and the roster in place, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of thatchange 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 andthe 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?
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