Alex Highsmith knows the Steelers failed to live up to their high standards on defense last season. Sometimes, in fact, they fell well short. Months after the season ended, it’s still on his mind, and he is already thinking about the future. Pittsburgh will have nearly a whole new coaching staff, but he’s ready to get to work.
“There’s some games that we absolutely dominated”, Highsmith told Jon Gruden about the Steelers’ defense last season. “And there’s some games we played like a bottom-of-the-league defense. We just weren’t consistent enough. I feel like we do have the players to be an elite defense, a legendary defense. We’ve just got to put it all together. And it just starts with in practice, communication, details and whatnot”.
you know the talk that followed the Steelers’ defense into last season, right from former HC Mike Tomlin. He set the table by talking about the potential for that to be a “historic” defense, and, well, they didn’t rise to that level. While it’s lofty talk, however, Highsmith believes they still have the talent to dominate next season. And he’s gearing up to put a plan into action with his new DC.
“I’m excited to work with Patrick Graham and get to know him”, he said of the new leader of the Steelers’ defense. “We have all the pieces. We’ve shown flashes of that, but it’s about putting it together week after week after week. Not only just creating turnovers, but also getting off the field and taking away long drives”.
Last season, the Steelers finished 17th on defense in points allowed and 26th in yards allowed. While they finished in the top five in takeaways, they allowed over 6,000 yards. The Steelers ranked near the bottom of the league on defense in most drive efficiency statistics. Their average drive lasted over three minutes, spanning 6.5 plays and 34.3 yards. The only area in which they ranked in the top half of the league was points per drive at 2.12, ranked 14th.
Even though the Steelers only held one opponent to below 10 points all year, the defense played very well for several games. Or at least, for most of those games. Alex Highsmith personally mentioned the games against the Vikings and Colts, for example. Yet they nearly lost to the Jets in Week 1.
There is only so much the Steelers can do on defense without changing personnel. Some have floated the idea of trading Alex Highsmith, trusting Nick Herbig and Jack Sawyer to fill the void. Right now, they have questions particularly in the secondary, including who to re-sign.
The Steelers are undergoing their most extensive change on defense in decades, generally adhering to a pretty obvious lineage. While they plan to keep the 3-4 foundation, there is a lot that Patrick Graham could do differently within that. But it’s also up to individual players to improve on their own, something Highsmith did last year.
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